


Our lives are perfectly entwined

by MiraclesAndObstacles



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 18:01:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 37,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8632945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraclesAndObstacles/pseuds/MiraclesAndObstacles
Summary: “Speaking of which, isn’t it almost time for him to show up?” Philipp asked, checking the time on his mobile.“Is it half four already?” Manuel sighed at his textbook, which still had too many pages left to be read for the exam tomorrow.“Aha! So you-”“Shut up,” Manuel cuts Philipp off. “He comes in at the same time every single day, Philipp. You know what time he comes in too. That doesn’t prove anything.” orFour guys working at a convenience store in town with one regular coming in every day.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi world!  
> This is my newest fan fiction with pairings from the German NT.  
> I really hope you like it, and I'd like for you to leave comments and tell me your thoughts about my work.
> 
> Be sure to check out my other fanfics as well.  
> Have fun reading, and I hope you have a good day.  
> xx

“Thank you, have a nice day,” Manuel ducked his head a bit as he handed Mrs. Calloway her bags.

“Same to you, dear.” She smiled. “Cheers.” She waved to Bastian and Lukas as she snagged her son by the shirt collar to drag him away from Philipp.

“Bye, Philipp!” little Daniel called out as his mother rolled her eyes and pulled him from the store.

“Bye, Daniel!” Philipp yelled loudly in return.

“You don’t need to be so loud, you arsehole,” Lukas moaned at Philipp where he was leaning over Bastian’s cash register.

Philipp just grinned and hopped up on the counter next to Bastian’s register. “And you didn’t need to do that many shots last night, but here we are.”

“Be nice, Phips." Bastian smiled, running his hand through Lukas’s hair gently. 

“Poor baby has a hangover.”

“Why do I need to be quiet? It’s not like the two of you are quiet when you’re fucking.” Philipp smiled smugly.

“Line, Philipp.” Manuel glared at him. Philipp just rolled his eyes and pulled a stupid face making Manuel hide his smile behind his textbook, leaning his chin on his elbow as he sat behind his register.

Manuel had met Bastian first. They’d been roommates their first year of university. Bastian “Undeclared” Schweinsteiger and Manuel “Literature With An Art Minor” Neuer. They’d hit it off about halfway through fall term, when Bastian had dragged one Philipp “Dramatic Arts and Education Double” Lahm into their dorm room to get drunk. 

Up until Philipp, Manuel had been kind of quiet. He kept to himself and yeah, he liked Bastian, but he wasn’t sure if Bastian liked him. Bastian had all these friends and was always getting invited to these loud, ridiculous parties and Manuel was used to just chilling, maybe getting high.  
But Philipp. Philipp Manuel was sure liked him. Philipp was loud and playful and funny. He made Manuel laugh because he was actually funny, not just because he tripped over a piece of furniture that had been there from the start of term. Philipp helped Manuel to grow out of his shell (not that Manuel would ever admit that) and because of that, Manuel had gotten closer to Bastian and realized that he might have been too quick to judge how Bastian felt about him.

“He never shuts up about you,” Philipp had told Manuel the second time they’d hung out. “Manuel this and Manuel that. How great your art is, how you helped him with an essay. If he wasn’t head over heels for that kid in his sociology class, I’d think he had a thing for you.”

That boy in Bastian’s sociology class turned out to be Lukas “Sound Design With A Music Theory Minor” Podolski, who Manuel met one day when he came in after class. Lukas was lounging on Bastian’s bed, sunglasses on even though they were inside, with a huge smile on his face.

“You must be Manuel,” Lukas had said, accent thick. “I’m Lukas.”

Manuel really liked Lukas. And, seeing as there wasn’t much Lukas didn’t like, Manuel figured Lukas liked him too. They hit it off really well, which worked out for the best because the next time Manuel walked in to find Lukas on Bastian’s bed, it was with Bastian on top of him, their mouths pressed together.

That had been almost two years ago. The four of them lived off-campus in a flat together now. It was the messiest flat in the whole world, Manuel was convinced, but it was home and it was theirs.

In spring term of last year, Manuel had been hired by the convenience store. The one located in the town next to the one where they went to school and had their flat. It was a small store, run and populated by town inhabitants. As time went on, Manuel got all of his flatmates a job at the convenience store.

Mr. Oliver, the owner of the store, was a nice old man who was more than willing to take on the boys as staff. He was great about working around their class schedule and about scheduling them for the same shifts. It was as close to a dream job as four uni students with rent to pay could get.

“So, Manuel,” Philipp turned his attention back on Manuel and Manuel wanted to groan about how he was trying to study, but he’d already told Philipp that multiple times since they'd started their shift. Philipp just didn’t care. “What happened to that cute girl you were talking to last night? She had it bad for you.”

Manuel shrugged. “I have an exam tomorrow.”

Philipp and Bastian both stared at him blankly. Lukas didn’t lift his head, though he moaned in complaint when Bastian stilled his hand.

“Sorry, baby,” Bastian murmured and resumed rubbing Lukas’s head.

“You couldn’t get laid…” Philipp raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. “Because you have an exam tomorrow?”

“Let it go, Phips,” Manuel pleaded.

“Because you have,” Philipp paused dramatically. “An exam tomorrow.”

“Make him stop, Basti,” Lukas groaned out.

“Lukas, there’s paracetamol in aisle four, just have Bastian go get you some,” 

Philipp snipped at him, but he pulled Lukas into a cuddle when Bastian left to get his boyfriend something to help the hangover. He looked at Manuel over Lukas’s head. “An exam?”

“Yes,” Manuel stuck to his story.

“And this ‘exam’ wouldn’t be some kind of code for Thomas, would it?” Philipp smiled like he’d won and he kind of had.

Bastian came back then with the medicine for Lukas. He put the correct amount of money in the till and handed Lukas a few pills to take.

“Are we talking about Manuel being in love with Thomas again?” Bastian wanted to know. He rounded on Philipp, hands on his hips; voice offended when he asked, 

“And you were going to start without me?”

“Never,” Philipp swore as Bastian hopped up to sit beside him on the counter next to his station. Bastian’s station was directly opposite Manuel so now they were both perched up there, looking at Manuel with shit-eating grins on their faces. Philipp handed Lukas back over to Bastian.

“No, give me back to Philipp,” Lukas pushed away from Bastian. “You’re too warm.”

Bastian rolled his eyes but dutifully let Lukas out of his arms so that Lukas could return to Philipp. Lukas laced his fingers with Bastian’s so Bastian would stop pouting.

“I’m not in love with Thomas,” Manuel protested when Lukas finally settled down.

“Of course you’re not,” Lukas snarked from where his face was buried in Philipp’ chest. “And I’m not in love with Basti.”

Bastian beamed at that, the same way he always did when Lukas said he loved him even though Lukas said it like, a million times a day. 

Bastian made breakfast, “I love you.”   
Bastian found a pen for him to use in class, “I love you.”   
Bastian got in a row with Manuel about taking his clothes, “I love you.”   
It would be sickening if Lukas weren’t so earnest every single time.

“When are you just gonna suck it up and tell him you want to suck him up?” Bastian asked.

They all groaned and Philipp punched Bastian in the shoulder. “No,” Philipp told him firmly.

“I’m probably not even his type,” Manuel told them, not meeting their eyes. 

For all that he dreaded having to talk or think about Thomas, once he started, it was all he wanted to do. Which was a problem when he had homework to be doing or a job to be focusing on or when he needed to breathe.

“Shut up,” Philipp rolled his eyes, clearly not in the mood for a maudlin Manuel today. “You’re extremely fit and you know it. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t spend nearly as much time in front of a mirror as you do. And I know for a fact that you’re a great lay, which makes you everyone’s type.”

Manuel and Philipp had happened shortly after Lukas and Bastian got together. The four of them had started hanging out together all the time and then, when Bastian and Lukas started really dating, it was just Philipp and Manuel. They’d been bored (and usually high) and it had seemed like a good enough idea. They’d hooked up a few times, but quit while they were ahead and able to keep any feelings out of it. They were great friends, but they both knew they’d be awful boyfriends to each other.

“He might not even be interested in guys!” Manuel argued.

“We’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Bastian chimed in. “He definitely likes boys. At the very least he likes you.”

“Speaking of which, isn’t it almost time for him to show up?” Philipp asked, checking the time on his mobile.

“Is it half four already?” Manuel sighed at his textbook, which still had too many pages left to be read for the exam tomorrow.

“Aha! So you-”

“Shut up,” Manuel cuts Philipp off. “He comes in at the same time every single day, Philipp. You know what time he comes in too. That doesn’t prove anything.”

“You’ve got like ten minutes, Manulein,” Bastian grinned as Manuel scowled at the stupid nickname they broke out whenever they were teasing him. “Do you want to run to the break room and freshen up?”

“Do you want to run to the break room and fuck off?” Manuel shot back.

“We already did that today,” Lukas garbled from within Philipp’s arms.

“The fuck you did,” Philipp told Lukas. “You’ve been way too hangover to get off today. We’ve only been here for an hour and I’ve had you and Bastian in my sights the whole time.”

“Not when you went to get coffee, you didn’t,” Lukas smirked up at Philipp who pushed him away. Lukas simply moved into the V between Bastian’s thighs instead. Bastian wound his arms around Lukas’s neck and grinned at Philipp as he rested his chin on the top of Lukas’s head.

“I wasn’t even gone for fifteen minutes!” Philipp exclaimed.

“Bastian doesn’t take long,” Lukas shrugged at him.

“Lukas,” Bastian pulled away, offended. Manuel and Philipp laughed while Lukas simply buried his face back in Bastian’s shirt.  
The front door of the store opened just then, interrupting them.

“Thomas!” Philipp yelled out a greeting. “How are you on this fine day?”

Thomas smiled, big and genuine, eyes crinkling up. “I’m good, Philipp, how are you? Everyone alright?”

“Better now,” Lukas told Thomas, pulling away from Bastian to grin at Thomas.

“What was wrong before?” Thomas asked, confusion colouring his face.

“Lukas had a bit too much to drink last night,” Bastian explained. “Or, technically, this morning.”

Thomas walked over closer to Manuel’s counter. “And you, Manuel? You alright?”

Manuel blatantly ignored his three friends where he could still see them over   
Thomas’s shoulder. “I’m alright, yeah.”

“That’s good. What are you reading?” Thomas asked, poking at Manuel’s textbook and smiling.

“My art history textbook,” Manuel rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t keep the corners of his mouth from turning up. He loved talking about what he was studying, for all he complained about how much work he had to do. And he loved talking to Thomas. But that was a different story. “Studying up about some Impressionism.”

“Sounds interesting,” Thomas said.

“It’s not really,” Manuel made a face at his book.

Thomas waited until Manuel caught his eye again. “It sounds interesting, Manuel. Really.”

Manuel caught himself grinning but he didn’t try to do anything to stop it.

“Are you in school?” Philipp interrupted suddenly from his perch.

“Uh, yeah,” Thomas shuffled his feet a little and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I’m a Marine Biology Major at the university in the city.”

“University in the city?” Lukas asked, turning around to lean his back against Bastian’s torso so he could face Thomas and Manuel. “What are you doing here then?”

“I live in town,” Thomas admitted. “I commute to and from school now because it’s cheaper. This is where I get my chocolate fix when I get home from classes. And then on Saturdays I buy all my other stuff, but you guys know that.”

“That makes us sound like such creeps,” Bastian said thoughtfully, fingers tapping against Lukas’s chest.

“Why the sudden interest?” Thomas turned to Philipp again.

Philipp shrugged. “You’ve been coming in here for like, three months now. I figured it was time we got to know you a little bit.”

“Sure,” Thomas answered easily enough. “What about you guys? What are you studying?”

They told Thomas what they’re studying along with how they all met.

“So you live together, work together, and go to school together?” Thomas asked, almost incredulous. “That’s sick.”

“Living the dream,” Manuel deadpanned.

“Or we would be,” Bastian threw in. “If Manuel and Philipp would learn how to clean up after themselves.”

“You know what,” Manuel started.  
“You sing at arse o’clock in the morning, Bastian Schweinsteiger, don’t you fucking start,” Philipp cut in.  
“It’s not usually morning when I sing!” Bastian protested. “It’s not my fault some of you don’t get up when the clock says ‘AM’.”  
"Excuse you, I have morning classes this term," Manuel protested.  
“It’s because we’re up all night studying, Bastian,” Philipp told him.  
“No you’re not,” Lukas rolled his eyes.  
“Are you sure you want to get involved, food stealer?” Manuel raised his eyebrows at Lukas.  
“You know the rule, Manuel. If you don’t label your food, it’s up for grabs.”  
“It was in the fucking microwave, Lukas, I was in the middle of cooking it.”  
Lukas narrowed his eyes. “It didn’t have a label on it.”  
“At least Lukas doesn’t take two hundred years in the bathroom,” Philipp jumped in again.  
“Hey!” both Bastian and Manuel turned glares on Philipp.  
“At least when they do, they do more than just stare at their own arse,” Lukas stuck his tongue out at Philipp.  
Thomas’s laughter broke up their not-argument. They had long ago learned to live with the worst parts of each other. They complained mostly to complain now. If something was ever really bothering them, they would handle it a lot more maturely than this.   
Or at least Manuel hoped they would.  
“You guys are really funny,” Thomas told them. “But are you sure it’s safe for you all to be living under one roof?”  
“Perfectly safe,” Bastian assured Thomas.  
“As long as you keep Manuel far away from the kitchen,” Lukas added.  
"That happened one time," Manuel directed his protests to Thomas. "And I was drunk."  
"Probably would have happened if you were sober, too," Bastian mused.  
"Are we done picking on me now or do you want to break out my baby pictures, too?"  
"And deny your mother the pleasure of showing Thomas herself?" Philipp put his hand over his heart dramatically. "Never!"  
Manuel blushed at Philipp's implication that Thomas would ever meet his mum.  
"Oi, Thomas though," Lukas changed the subject because Lukas was a wonderful and marvellous friend. "We're hitting up a pub tonight after work. You should come with us. Have a few pints, split a few appetizers, chill."  
Lukas was a terrible and awful friend.  
"Oh." Thomas was surprised. "I wouldn't want to impose on you guys or anything."  
"Not imposing if we're asking," Lukas told him. He batted Bastian's hands away from his nipples without breaking eye contact with Thomas.  
"We get it if you already have plans or something," Manuel gave Thomas an out.  
"No, no plans," Thomas responded. "All of my mates stay in the city and there's no one in town really worth making plans with, you know?"  
"It's settled then," Philipp clapped his hands together. "Meet us back here at eight and we'll go. Now, what kind of chocolate are you going to get today?"  
Another customer came in as Thomas was looking over the candy displayed at Manuel's station forcing the other three to pretend to do their jobs.  
"You're sure it's okay if I come out with you guys tonight?" Thomas asked Manuel, looking up from underneath his lashes and voice quiet.  
"Of course," Manuel reassured Thomas.  
"Okay!" Thomas's smile was wide and bright and sincere.   
Manuel found his own smile trying to mirror Thomas's as it stretched across his face. They just stood there grinning at each other for a moment and then Thomas blushed and returned to looking at the candy.  
After a moment of deliberation where Manuel tried to stare at anything that wasn't Thomas's shoulders (they were so broad), fingers (they were so long where they rested on the counter), or his lips as he chewed thoughtfully on the bottom one (Manuel was so, so screwed), Thomas placed his chocolate choice in front of Manuel.  
"Good choice," Manuel commented, scanning the barcode on the peanut butter cups Thomas had selected. "These are my favourite."  
"Mine too," Thomas's smile made the butterflies in Manuel's stomach fly around full force.  
Manuel rang up Thomas’s peanut butter cups and handed them to him, careful not to brush fingertips as he passed them over.  
"I'll see you tonight then?" Thomas asked as he handed over the money for his snack.  
"I guess so, yeah," Manuel answered, dropping Thomas's change into his waiting hand.  
"Bye, Manuel," Thomas called as he left. Manuel rose up his hand to return the goodbye.

\----

"Come on, Manuel, Thomas's going to be here any minute and I need to use the toilet before we go," Bastian whined from outside the loo door.  
"I know he's gonna be here soon," Manuel ignored the second half of Bastian's complaint. "That's the fucking problem."  
"Why is that a problem? I figured you'd be thrilled he's coming out with us. Give you a chance to get to know him. Maybe even biblically if you play your cards right."  
"No one's gonna want to know me biblically when my hair looks like this," Manuel pouted and leaned over to unlock the door so Bastian could come in.  
"It looks fine, babes," Bastian told him, going to stand at the toilet. Their flat only had one bathroom: this was far from the first time one of the boys had weed in front of him.  
"It does not," Manuel huffed.  
"Yeah but you have that whole 'I-don't-give-a-fuck' thing going for you," Bastian argued.  
Manuel just sighed and gave his hair one last sorry look before heading back out into the store. Philipp and Lukas were giving the place one last sweep. They'd already locked everything up, done what little inventory they'd been left to do, and shut off most of the lights.  
"Your hair looks great, bro," Lukas told him, not looking up as he straightened a few boxes of cereal.  
"Bastian texted you from the loo," Manuel accused.  
Lukas just shrugged and nodded.  
There was a knock on the front door just then, Thomas waving at them through the glass.  
"Why don't you go let our Thomas in, Manulein?" Philipp called from a couple aisles over.  
"Why don't you go fuck yourself," Manuel muttered under his breath as he made his way to the door. He turned the lock and let Thomas in.  
Thomas smiled. "Hey."  
He'd changed since he'd left the store earlier. This afternoon he'd been wearing a button up with tan slacks. He wore a similar outfit everyday though the button ups changed colours frequently and sometimes the trousers were black instead of tan. Now though, Thomas was wearing a red and white baseball tee that pulled tight across his chest and shoulders and a loose pair of jeans slung very low on his hips. Manuel got a peek at the top of Thomas's grey pants when Thomas reached up to adjust the Batman snapback he was wearing and his shirt pulled up.  
"Hi," Manuel managed after a few beats had passed.  
"Hello again, Thomas Müller," Philipp greeted as he came out of an aisle. "You're looking noticeably less sharp than earlier."  
"What?" A confused look crossed Thomas's face as he looked down at himself. "Oh! I guess you guys have never really seen me out of my work clothes."  
"Well that's fair because this is the first time you're seeing us out of ours too," Bastian chimed in as he came to the front of the store and flipped the last of the light switches, plunging the store into almost complete darkness.  
"Hey!" Lukas squawked.  
Bastian giggled but made no move to turn the lights back on as his boyfriend emerged from the shelves, a scowl on his face. He looked like a disgruntled puppy though, so no one took his anger seriously, least of all Bastian who pulled Lukas into an apology kiss.  
"Feckin' muppet." Lukas rolled his eyes while stepping away from Bastian's kiss. He held out his hand for Bastian to take and laced their fingers together. "Alright, are we going? I'm starving."  
Manuel picked up his backpack from where he'd left it by the door and followed the boys out of the store, pausing to relock and test the door. When it proved to be firmly locked, he flashed the others a thumbs up and they started off down the street. They headed towards a nearby station that ran a train between where Manuel, Philipp, Lukas, and Bastian lived and Thomas's town.  
"You okay with leaving town?" Manuel asked Thomas, suddenly realizing they hadn't told him where the pub was earlier.  
"Sure," Thomas shrugged. There's no pub in town so I was expecting it really."  
"You can always crash at ours if it gets too late or you get too drunk," Lukas offered and Manuel mentally took back every nice thing he's ever thought about Lukas.  
"I have class in the morning, but thanks," Thomas's response was genuine. "And thanks again for inviting me out tonight. Nice break in the boredom."  
"You're welcome out with us any time," Bastian told him.  
Philipp poked at Thomas and added, "Unless you're boring. Then you're never welcome out with us again."  
"Philipp..." Bastian's tone was scolding but he was interrupted by Thomas’ laughing.  
"I will try my best to be very interesting and not boring," Thomas promised Philipp and even though he was smiling Manuel noticed a tightness around his eyes, like this wasn't the first time Thomas had made this promise.  
“I’m sure you’re very interesting and not boring without even trying,” Manuel told Thomas, flicking Philipp in the forehead as he passed him to fall into step with Thomas.  
“Thanks,” Thomas offered Manuel a smile, no tightness around his eyes.  
The train pulled in just then and they all clambered on with Lukas chanting “pints, pints, pints.” under his breath.

\----

They were a few shots and a few beers in when Lukas decided it was time for karaoke.  
“Does this pub even have a karaoke machine?” Thomas asked, looking around as if one was just going to magically appear.  
“It does if you’re Lukas.” Philipp rolled his eyes as Lukas left their table and went over to the bar. He spoke to the bartender for a while before she smiled and nodded. Lukas hopped over the bar - literally hopped over the bar - and came out of the backroom through a door a few seconds later, a karaoke machine in his arms.  
“Are you kidding me?” Thomas was incredulous. “Did that really just happen?”  
Manuel took another sip of his drink. “Everyone loves Lukas. Everyone.”  
Bastian pinched at Manuel’s side until Manuel sighed and added, “But no one loves Lukas as much as Bastian does. And Lukas only really loves Bastian. Are you happy?”  
Bastian beamed at Manuel before leaving to go join his boyfriend where he was setting up the karaoke machine.  
“They’re disgusting,” Philipp commented, watching the two of them get tangled up in wires as they tried to plug things in while kissing. His face was soft and voice fond, though, so they all knew he didn’t mean it.  
“Does the bartender know that Lukas is with Bastian?” Thomas wanted to know. “I mean, she looked pretty into him.”  
“Everyone knows that Lukas’s with Bastian. Bastian makes sure of that,” Philipp told Thomas. “But he’s still cute as a goddamn button and gets away with murder.”  
“Check, check,” Lukas’s voice carried throughout the pub.   
It was a Wednesday night so there weren’t many people. A bunch of regulars, who were used to Bastian, Lukas, Philipp, and Manuel’s antics by now.   
“Alright, it’s karaoke time!”  
Philipp looked between Thomas and Manuel when he thought Manuel wasn’t looking, then politely excused himself to go join Bastian and Lukas at the karaoke machine, giving Manuel a pointed look when he managed to catch his glance as he left.  
“Do you want to go join them?” Thomas asked Manuel, tone polite.  
Manuel shook his head. “It’s too early in the night for me. I need at least two more shots before I join them.”  
“Not a singer, then?” Thomas chuckled a little and took a sip of his drink.  
“I sing okay,” Manuel admitted, shrugging. “I’m just not a huge fan of doing it in front of strangers. What about you? Do you sing?”  
“Yeah,” Thomas told him. “I used to sing a lot, actually. I was thinking about doing it professionally when I was younger, you know? One of those ‘if I could do anything in the whole world’ kind of things. I think I would like to sing.”  
“And you don’t still think about doing it professionally?”  
Thomas shrugged, wrapping his hands around his glass. “Not really. I fell in love with Marine Biology and I’m really happy studying that and working at the aquarium in the city. I’m not saying I would turn down a record deal or anything, but it’s not something I’m really going after anymore. Dreams change, you know?”  
Manuel nodded because he did know. “So what made you fall in love with Marine Biology?”  
Thomas chuckled a little as he glanced up at Manuel through his eyelashes. “Promise not to laugh?”  
They were interrupted just then by Bastian announcing that their first song would be a duet between him and Philipp, with Lukas on backup vocals. Everyone in pub ignored them except for Thomas, who clapped politely.  
“I promise,” Manuel turned back to Thomas as his friends started singing something vaguely inappropriate and most likely from the 70’s.  
“I had a pet turtle when I was younger and I loved that turtle,” Thomas confessed. “Like, I was in proper love with this turtle. I took him with me to the park and to the cinema - I would hide him under my coat - and on more than one occasion I tried to take him to school with me. He died when I was ten or something and my mom got me another one. That’s when I realized I wasn’t just in proper love with that turtle, I was in proper love with all turtles. As I got older, I realized it wasn’t just turtles. When it came time to pick something to study, I just picked something I loved.”  
Manuel just stared at Thomas until Thomas blushed and looked down at his drink. “What, Manuel?”  
“Why would anyone ever laugh at that?” Manuel wanted to know. “That’s a great reason.”  
Thomas looked up at him and when he saw that Manuel wasn’t taking the piss, a smile blossomed across his face. “Yeah, but. I brought a turtle to the cinema.”  
Manuel laughed then and Thomas joined in.  
“If you two are quite finished,” Philipp’ voice cut into their laughter. “We’re waiting on you.”  
“But you were doing such a good job,” Manuel called to him. “We wouldn’t want to mess you up.”  
“I’m gonna mess you up, Neuer,” Philipp shot back at him. “Come over here and sing with us. Basti says we can finally do the Spice Girls!”  
“Spice Girls?” Thomas gave Manuel a puzzled look.  
Manuel rolled his eyes and pushed his chair back, downing the rest of his drink in one go. “Probably because there are five of us tonight so we can all be one of the girls.”  
They end up singing two Spice Girls songs and they don’t sound half bad. Manuel’s still humming “Spice Up Your Life” as they wave to Thomas as the train pulls away and the four of them head home.

\----

“Manuel,” Lukas’s voice is too close and there’s a heavy weight on Manuel’s chest, suggesting Lukas is literally on top of him. “Manulein, wake up.”  
“Get the fuck off me, Lukas,” Manuel warned him without opening his eyes.  
Lukas squirmed around a bit and Manuel doesn’t think he’s ever hated Lukas as much as he hates him right now. “No can do, babe. You have to get up. You have an exam today.”  
“I don’t want to,” Manuel complained.  
“I know,” Lukas huffed against Manuel’s chin. He rolled off of Manuel’s chest and cuddled into his side instead. “But you have to. You’ve been studying all week for this.”  
“Why did I let you guys talk me into going out last night?” Manuel whined.  
“We didn’t talk you into anything,” Lukas answered, refusing to take any blame for this. “Besides, you got to spend quality time with Thomas.” Lukas imitated Manuel’s accent over Thomas’s name, which made Manuel scowl even with his eyes still pressed firmly shut. He’d drank plenty of water before going to bed last night so the hangover was just a small headache right now, but he still didn’t feel like dealing with light just yet.  
“He’s a Marine Biology major because he loves turtles, Lukas,” Manuel said, voice almost mournful. “He’s so cute.”  
“Is this the point where I should mention that he’s also here?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“He’s here. He’s in the kitchen with Basti right now.”  
Manuel opened his eyes and turned to glare at Lukas. “He’s where?”  
“In the kitchen. I guess Philipp texted him this morning to come over after his class if he didn’t have work and Bastian would make bacon sandwiches for everyone.”  
“I’m gonna kill Philipp,” Manuel grumbled. “I’m gonna kill you first and then I’m going after Phips.”  
“Why me?” Lukas pouted but Manuel was having none of it as he pushed off the covers and started looking for a pair of sweats and a jumper to throw on.  
“Because you invited him out last night and he told me about his turtles, Lukas,” Manuel explained though he knew he wasn’t making much sense.  
Lukas sighed and curled up in Manuel’s bed. He hated mornings almost as much as Manuel. “I don’t know why anyone thinks you’re cool or mysterious or anything. You’re a fucking idiot. And a dork.”  
“It’s the height,” Manuel informed him primly. “It makes me look dangerous.”  
“Oh, right,” Lukas drawled sarcastically.   
Manuel glared at him, but there was no real heat behind it. He sighed and asked, “I don’t suppose there’s any chance of me getting into the bathroom unseen is there?”  
“Probably not,” Lukas answered fairly. “But you look really hot right now so you should just go for it, I think.”  
“I haven’t even showered,” Manuel made a face.  
Lukas gave him a look and then rolled over, burying his face in Manuel’s pillow and pulling Manuel’s blankets over himself. Manuel just sighed and kissed the back of his head before heading out to the kitchen.  
“Morning,” Manuel greeted everyone.  
“It’s not morning,” Bastian informed him from where he was standing at the stove.  
“I just woke up, it’s morning,” Manuel told him, leaning over to tug on his hair. Manuel turned and took a seat at the table. “Hey, Thomas.”  
Thomas swallowed down a bit of his sandwich before offering Manuel a huge smile. “Hi, Manuel.”  
Philipp mimed gagging from his spot on the counter behind Thomas. Manuel glared at him.  
“Do you want to eat first or shower first?” Bastian asked Manuel. “Because if you’re gonna shower, I’m gonna eat this sandwich and I’ll make you one when you get out.”  
“I think I’ll shower first, yeah,” Manuel debated internally. “That way I can study while I eat.”  
Philipp groaned and flopped over sideways on the counter. “No more studying. You know that textbook inside and out.”  
“I really don’t,” Manuel told him as he headed down the hall to get in the shower.

When he emerged a while later, towel around his waist, scruff slightly more under control, it was to find Thomas and Lukas seated on the couch playing Mario Kart. He could hear Bastian and Philipp talking and laughing in the kitchen. He snuck into his room undetected.  
He dressed quickly, tugging on the only pair of trousers he owned that even made it look like he had an arse. He went back and forth between his white shirt and his red shirt for a minute, then pulled the red one over his head. Manuel ran his fingers through his hair but couldn’t do much more than that until it dried so he figured that that would have to do.  
“Manuel?” Bastian came in without knocking, as he was prone to do.  
(“If you’re doing something you don’t want me to see or that you think I don’t want to see, lock your door,” Bastian had argued once. “Otherwise, I’m going to just walk in.”)  
“‘Sup, Basti?”  
“Just wondering if you were going to spend a lot more time making yourself look pretty or just a little more time? Because I still have the stove on for your sandwich.”  
Manuel rolled his eyes in response to the first part. If he wasn’t careful, his eyes were going to get stuck facing the wrong way one day. “I’ll have a sandwich now, please.”  
“Okay,” Bastian went to close Manuel’s door but hesitated.  
“What?” Manuel asked when he noticed Bastian was still there.  
Bastian looked behind him and then came all the way into the room, shutting the door behind him. “You’re okay with this right? With Thomas coming out with us and being here?”  
Manuel blushed furiously but he fought it down valiantly. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”  
“No,” Bastian trailed off for a minute, trying to find the words. “I mean like… You fancy him, yeah? And all of the sudden you’re going from seeing him in the store once a day to waking up to him in our flat. I just want to make sure you’re not like, uncomfortable or anything?”  
Manuel smiled fondly at Bastian. Bastian, who was a stupid idiot most of the time and who tripped over his own feet and who told the worst stories in the whole world, but who also had the biggest heart out of anyone Manuel had ever met. “Thomas’s a really great guy, Basti. I’m happy to just be his friend.”  
“Sure you are,” Bastian teased gently. “You just want to be his friend so you can stare at his muscles all day.”  
“Leave me alone,” Manuel grumbled but he didn’t mean it. “Go stare at your boyfriend’s muscles or something.”  
Bastian winked and opened his mouth, but Manuel leapt across his room and covered it with his hand before Bastian could speak.  
“Whatever you were about to say,” Manuel warned. “Don’t fucking say it.”  
Bastian licked Manuel’s hand and left the room laughing, as Manuel chased after him trying to wipe his hand off on Bastian’s shirt.

\----

Thomas came into the shop that afternoon just in time for Lukas to hide behind him as Philipp came hurtling out of the shelves, water pistol in hand.  
“Don’t think I won’t shoot Thomas to get to you, Lukki,” Philipp warned, taking aim.  
“You’re all talk, Lahm,” Lukas shot at him from where he was ducked behind Thomas still. “You would never shoot poor Thomas.”  
“The fuck I wouldn’t,” Philipp retorted and then, because Philipp was ridiculous and took everything as a challenge even when it clearly wasn’t, Philipp let loose a stream of water right at Thomas.  
“Philipp!” Thomas exclaimed but Philipp didn’t stop.  
“Surrender Lukas and I’ll consider letting you go,” Philipp told him.  
Thomas glared. “I can’t surrender him because I don’t have him. He’s just using me as a shield.”  
“And you’re doing a great job, mate,” Lukas popped his head up to say.  
Thomas whirled on Lukas, tone authoritative when he said, “Give me that.” Manuel swallowed.  
Lukas obediently handed over his own water pistol. Thomas turned back to Philipp, a smirk on his face. “Now you’re gonna get it.” He opened fire on Philipp, chasing him down an aisle.  
“Please don’t break anything!” Manuel called after them but he knew it was useless.  
Bastian was laughing wildly as Lukas came over and shook his hair out at him. He pulled Lukas into a quick kiss and told him to go towel off in the break room while Philipp was still distracted.  
“You son of a -” They heard Philipp’ voice ring out as Lukas headed off.  
“Don’t touch me, Philipp, I mean it!” Thomas’s voice answered.  
Manuel couldn’t help the soft smile that crossed his face when he thought about how well Thomas fit in with all of them. It was like something had just… clicked. Like Thomas was a missing piece to a puzzle they hadn’t known they were putting together that had suddenly been found.  
“Manueeeeeeel,” Thomas reappeared from the aisles and came to duck behind Manuel’s counter. “Protect me!”  
“Don’t get me involved, Thomas,” Manuel told him sternly, but he was chuckling just a little bit.  
“He’s your friend!” Thomas argued, pouting. “Make him stop.”  
Manuel sighed and turned his attention to where Philipp had just come back into view of the check out counters.  
“Are you hiding him, Neuer? Didn’t take you for a traitor,” Philipp held his gun at his hip like this was some American Western Drama. Manuel half-expected a tumbleweed to blow by.  
“He’s hiding, I’ve nothing to do with this,” Manuel echoed Thomas’s argument from earlier. However, he meant it. He was not getting involved. He loved a good water fight as much as the next guy, but he didn’t like being up against Philipp because Philipp was vicious when victory was on the line. It was Philipp’ team or no team as far as Manuel was concerned.  
“Can we call a truce?” Thomas asked from the floor. His shoulder pressed up to Manuel’s leg as he knelt up to peek over the counter.  
“Never,” Philipp responded without hesitation.  
“Phips, come on,” Manuel said. “Let it go. You’ve already been at this for like, an hour.”  
“Yeah, with Lukas,” Philipp told him. “Now I have a Thomas.”  
“You’re gonna have to make your own breakfast if you don’t stop,” Bastian threw in from where he was texting instead of actually paying attention.  
Philipp appeared to debate that for a moment, then decided that having to make his own waffles was worse than squirting Thomas with a water pistol. “Fine. Truce.”  
“Thank you,” Thomas’s voice was relieved as he stood. Manuel was suddenly aware of just how close Thomas was to him. Thomas smelled really good, a mixture of spice and something fruity. Manuel wasn’t sure that combination of scents would have worked for anyone else but they worked wonders for Thomas. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Thomas had come in in a white button down today. A white button down Philipp had spent the last ten minutes spraying with water. It was more see-through than shirt at this point, clinging to Thomas’s fantastic body.  
It had taken Manuel a moment to process all of that, so he didn’t realize that Thomas had been directing his thanks to Manuel, not Philipp.  
“What?” Manuel responded and he immediately felt stupid. “Why are you thanking me? It was Bastian that got him to stop.”  
“Yeah, but you let me hide behind your counter,” Thomas laughed. He clapped Manuel on the shoulder before moving away.  
Philipp disappeared to towel himself off in the break room just as Lukas re-emerged, planting a loud kiss on Bastian and exclaiming “my hero!” when he found out that it was Bastian who had finally put a stop to Philipp. Manuel was pretty sure Philipp and Lukas had been watching too many American Westerns.  
“Didn’t really have much of a choice, did I?” Manuel asked Thomas, going for cheeky. “You just hopped back here like you owned the place.”  
“I was being attacked!” Thomas argued, placing a hand over his heart. “I needed somewhere safe to hide!”  
“And you thought my counter would be that place?”  
Thomas just grinned at him and stepped out from behind the counter to hand Lukas his water pistol. He turned his focus on the candy display then, tapping his chin thoughtfully before he picked out his chocolate for the day.

\----

“So,” Lukas started when they were all sitting around their kitchen table, take away boxes piled in the middle. “Manuel, when are you going to ask Thomas out?”  
“I’m not doing anything until I have some dinner,” Manuel deflected. “I’m starving.”  
“Don’t deflect,” Bastian chided, sliding an egg roll onto Manuel’s plate before Lukas could get to them.  
“I’m not deflecting,” Manuel argued, pouting at his friends as they all gave him a rather unimpressed look.  
“Sure you’re not,” Bastian rolled his eyes as he filled his own plate.  
“How did your exam go, by the way?” Philipp asked, changing the subject.  
Manuel shot him a grateful look and answered, “Pretty good, I think. Like, it was alright.”  
“Which means you aced it,” Philipp smacked at Bastian’s hand as he reached for an extra helping of rice. “Knock it off, I haven’t had any yet.”  
Lukas’s phone beeped just then.  
“You know the rules, Lukki,” Philipp glared at him. “Dinner time is family time, no phones.”  
“It’s Thomas,” Lukas held up the phone to show Philipp the screen. “He’s just getting on the train from work. Do you want me to tell him to swing by? Grab some dinner?”  
All of them looked at Manuel.  
“Why the fuck are you looking at me?”  
“Are you okay with Thomas coming over for dinner?” Lukas asked, speaking slowly like Manuel was stupid.  
“You’re all aware that I like Thomas, right?” Manuel demanded. “Like, I think he’s a cool dude.”  
“I’ll tell him to stop by then,” Lukas grinned and sent Thomas a text.  
Twenty minutes later, Bastian was sitting on Lukas’s lap as he offered his chair to Thomas. Thomas tried to tell him that he would stand or something, but Lukas shot him a look and hooked his arms around Bastian’s middle, nuzzling into Bastian’s back, and Thomas just sighed and sat in the vacant chair.  
“Three times in one day,” Philipp commented, smiling. “Not sick of us yet?”  
Thomas blushed and put a few things on his plate. Bastian stared at him until he filled his plate all the way. “No. You guys are funny. And nice. What’s to be sick of?”  
“Stop complimenting us,” Manuel groaned. “Philipp’ gonna get a big head.”  
“Bigger than it already is,” Bastian added.  
“Watch yourself, Hairy. Your hair is much bigger than my head could ever get.” Philipp raised his eyebrows at Bastian. Bastian let out a burst of laughter and Philipp’ face melted into a fond smile.  
“Oh, Manuel,” Thomas cut in after he’d swallowed down some food. “How did your exam go today?”  
“He smashed it, didn’t he?” Lukas leaned over to squeeze Manuel’s cheek. Manuel hit his hand away and glared at him. Lukas at least had the decency to pretend to look sheepish.  
“It went alright,” Manuel told Thomas.  
“I’m sure you did great,” Thomas smiled at Manuel. Manuel smiled back, but quickly turned a glare on Bastian when he felt Bastian kick him under the table.  
“Are you hanging out after dinner or are you going home?” Lukas asked.  
Thomas’s eyes widened and he shifted and Manuel recognized that, he recognized the fear of imposing. Of not knowing whether was someone was offering out of pity or because they genuinely liked you.  
“You’re more than welcome to stay,” Manuel told him.  
“Are you sure?” Thomas’s voice sounded relieved.  
“Of course we’re sure,” Philipp tilted his head at Thomas like he was confused. “We like you.”  
“Oh,” Thomas flushed and looked down at his lap, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth.  
While the other three were distracted with a food fight Philipp had started with Lukas, Manuel reached across the table and put his hand over one of Thomas’s. Thomas looked up, surprised, but Manuel just smiled reassuringly.  
“We like you,” Manuel murmured, just for Thomas because Manuel remembers how badly he had needed to hear that once. Said softly and surely.  
Thomas positively beamed at Manuel at that and Manuel let go of Thomas’s hand so Thomas could keep eating.  
When Manuel turned back to the others, Philipp was watching him with a knowing smile. Bastian and Lukas had dissolved into giggles and kisses.

\----

And the thing was, Thomas was a great guy. Besides being really attractive and polite and sincere, Thomas was funny and sweet and all around wonderful. He went to hipster coffee shops with Bastian (“Bless you, mate,” Lukas had breathed out a sigh of relief when Thomas said he would go with Bastian the first time. “I bloody hate the coffee shops he goes to. The menus aren’t in English half the time.”) He played football with Philipp (“I’m not very good,” Thomas had confessed to Philipp the first time he had gotten asked to play. Philipp had sized him up before answering, “You can’t be any worse than these idiots. Let’s see what you’ve got.” And Thomas had been so much better than any of them were.) He went to campus parties as Lukas’s plus one (“You’re tall, you’ll be easy to find,” Lukas shrugged, ignoring Bastian’s protests that he was tall too, thank you very much.)  
The bottom line was that Thomas was great. Greater than Manuel could have ever hoped for, when Thomas first walked into their store three months ago. And that greatness was going to get Manuel in trouble.  
At least when Thomas had just been coming into the store, when their interactions had been no more than a few minutes each day, Manuel’s crush could be written off as silly. But now. Well.  
It was worse now that Manuel could touch. Now that Thomas spent more time at their flat than at his own home. Now that Thomas came out with them almost every Wednesday night. Now that Thomas was a part of their group. Manuel’s stupid crush on the boy who came into the shop had turned into a very real crush on Thomas.   
Stupid, funny and endearingly sweet Thomas.  
Who Manuel was going to murder.

“Manuel,” Thomas’s voice was close. “Wake up, Manuel, come on.”  
“What the fuck are you doing in my flat, Müller?” Manuel didn’t move where he was curled up in his bed.  
Thomas chuckled, shaking the bed from where he was lying on the side not currently occupied by Manuel. “I’m always in your flat.”  
“Not in the mornings,” Manuel pointed out to him.  
“Yeah, but there’s a film I want to see and I want you to come with me,” Thomas told him and Manuel could hear the pout in his voice.  
“Why don’t you ask Philipp?” Manuel asked, glad that his eyes were closed so Thomas couldn’t see the hope there.  
“I don’t want to go with Philipp,” Thomas poked at Manuel’s back. “I want to go with you. Come with me.”  
Manuel felt his breathing stutter and prayed that Thomas couldn’t.  
It was just that sometimes Thomas came out with these things -- said these things or touched Manuel or laughed harder at one of Manuel’s jokes than the other boys -- and it was making it very difficult for Manuel to get rid of his crush.  
He was fine with just being Thomas’s friend, he was. But when Thomas said stuff like that or bought an extra pack of peanut butter cups at the store just to hand them over to Manuel… Well. It was just hard to not want to be more than friends with Thomas.   
Gorgeous fantastic Thomas, who was now tugging at Manuel’s shoulder in an attempt to get him to roll over.  
“Thomas, it’s Sunday. I sleep in on Sundays,” Manuel informed him as he rolled over to face him finally.  
“You sleep in everyday,” Thomas retorted.  
“Yes, but Sunday is for sleeping off hangovers,” Manuel was pouting now, giving Thomas his best puppy dog eyes.  
“You didn’t even drink that much last night,” Thomas scoffed at him. “We stayed in and drank shitty beer and played video games.”  
Manuel scowled. “I’m a lightweight.”  
Thomas thought for a second, rolling onto his side so he and Manuel were face to face. “That might be true, but not even you are lightweight enough to have a hangover from last night.”  
“I hate you,” Manuel said, but he didn’t mean it.  
“I know,” Thomas just grinned at him. “Now come on, get dressed. Let’s go watch a film, yeah?”  
Manuel studied Thomas for a moment, eyes lingering on Thomas’s lips for just a few seconds more than probably strictly necessary. He sighed heavily, Thomas scrunched up his face at Manuel’s morning breath. Manuel laughed and then said, “Yeah. Let’s go watch a film.”  
Thomas smiled, big and all for Manuel, before leaping out of Manuel’s bed saying, “I’ll let you get dressed then. Do you want me to heat up leftovers before we go?”  
“Yes,” Manuel said, still lying in bed.  
Thomas’s smile turned soft as he went to pull the door shut behind him and he glanced one more time over his shoulder at Manuel. He closed the door and then shouted, “If you’re not out here in ten minutes, I’m coming back in with a bucket of ice water and Philipp! I mean it, Manuel.”  
Manuel laughed and pulled the blankets over his head. He was in way too deep.

\----

“I’m in way too deep,” Manuel confessed to Philipp, Bastian, and Lukas later that night. He and Thomas had gone to the movie and it had been two hours of arms brushing and exchanging smiles. Manuel could not for the life of him remember what the movie had been about, only that it had made Thomas laugh until his eyes crinkled up and that he had sat on the very edge of his seat (the actual edge of his seat) for the last fifteen minutes of the film.  
“How do you mean?” Bastian asked while Lukas and Philipp steadfastly ignored him and continued typing away at their laptops. Manuel knew Philipp had a paper due tomorrow, but he was pretty sure Lukas was just dicking around.  
"With Thomas," Manuel clarified. "I'm in way too deep with Thomas."  
"No, you wish Thomas was too deep in you," Lukas quipped and Philipp high fived him without looking away from his computer screen.  
"Shut up," Manuel snapped. "I don't know what to do. Do you know where we went this morning?"  
"You went somewhere in the morning?" Philipp asked, finally looking up. "Somewhere without an attendance requirement?"  
Manuel nodded. "Thomas wanted to see a film and he wanted me to go with him."  
"Like a date?" Philipp pushed.  
"No," Manuel shook his head. "I don't think so, like. We each paid for our own tickets and snacks and stuff. And we actually watched the movie." Thomas had, at least. Manuel didn't think he needed to mention that he hadn't because he'd been watching Thomas. He knew better than to get mushy around his boys because they'd never let him live it down.  
"Did you want it to be a date?" Bastian asked.  
"I don't know," Manuel groaned, letting his head thump back against the chair he was sitting in. Bastian, Lukas, and Philipp were all on the couch, Lukas under Bastian's arm as he worked. Shortly after moving in together Manuel had bought the chair he was sitting in now and forbid any of them from ever sitting in it. Manuel claimed it was his personal space and they were to respect that. It had lasted for a week, which was six days and twenty-three hours longer than Manuel thought it would. "He's just great, you know?"  
"Yes, we know," Lukas rolled his eyes. "We're his friends too."  
Manuel pouted and Lukas sighed, placing his laptop on Bastian's knees and disappearing into the kitchen.  
"What are you doing?" Manuel called after him.  
"Making us tea," Lukas answered. "If we're going to talk about our feelings, I'm doing it with a cuppa. Plus, it's nearly eight and that's Phips's tea time."  
"I fucking love you, Lukas Podolski," Philipp yelled. "I'm going to steal you away from Bastian because he doesn't deserve you and your tea making prowess."  
"Your tea is still better," Lukas argued while Bastian frowned at Philipp.  
"I know that," Philipp scoffed. "But yours is a close second."  
"I thought my tea was a close second," Bastian said to Philipp.  
Philipp reached over and rumpled Bastian's hair. "It is. Your tea is actually my favourite - after my own, of course - but you're not the one putting the kettle on right now."  
"You're emotionally manipulative," Bastian told him, like he was just realizing it.  
"Yes," Philipp agreed. "But the love is real."  
Bastian rolled his eyes but then tipped sideways, Philipp lifting up his computer so that Bastian could rest his head in Philipp' lap. Philipp set his computer aside and went about patting Bastian's hair.  
Lukas came back in a few minutes later with mugs of tea balanced in his hands, passing them out with practiced ease. Bastian was still sprawled out along the whole couch, so Lukas came and sat on the arm of Manuel's chair, Manuel leaning so that he was tucked against Lukas's side.  
"So what are you going to do about Thomas?" Lukas asked, free hand coming up to scratch at the short hairs on the back of Manuel's neck.  
"I don't know," Manuel whined.  
"You're a right bitch when you're in love," Bastian told Manuel.  
"Why am I friends with any of you?" Manuel demanded to the room at large.  
"Look," Philipp turned his Very Serious face on Manuel. "You like Thomas. You want to kiss his face and lick his abs and have his babies. All you have to do is tell him. Just man up and tell him that you want to date him or sleep with him or whatever."  
"It's not that easy," Manuel complained.  
"Yes it is," Lukas chimed in. "Worked for Basti."  
Bastian sat up on the couch to beam at Lukas. "Speaking of wanting to sleep with someone..."  
"Yeah, alright," Lukas agreed, standing up.  
"Don't make it sound like a chore," Bastian chastised as they made their way to their shared room.  
Philipp turned the TV on and blasted the volume while simultaneously patting the empty couch cushion next to him. Manuel got up and moved over to the couch, curling into Philipp' side.  
"It'll all work out, yeah?" Philipp whispered, kissing the top of Manuel's head.  
"Maybe," was all Manuel answered.  
They stayed like that until they were sure Lukas and Bastian were done and then they shut off the TV and both went into their own rooms to finish their homework for the next day.

\----

Manuel was feeling dead on his feet by the time Thomas came into work that Monday.  
"You look wrecked, mate," Thomas told him. And, oh God, what Manuel wouldn't give for him to mean that in a different way.  
"Manuel has morning classes on Monday. Though I still use the term morning loosely," Bastian explained.  
Manuel shot a finger gun at Bastian and said, "Got it in one."  
Bastian rolled his eyes and checked his mobile. "Anyone mind if I skip out for a moment and snog my boyfriend?"  
"Do whatever you want," Manuel told him. Philipp was somewhere in the shelves doing inventory for cold medicine or something while Lukas took his break. There was no one but Thomas in the store and they knew from routine there probably wouldn't be anyone else for a while.  
Bastian flashed him a grin before disappearing in the direction of the back room.  
"So," Thomas hopped up onto Manuel's counter. "Just you and me then."  
"Sorry," Manuel apologized without sincerity.  
"Don't be," Thomas answered. "I like when it's just you and me."  
Thomas's honesty startled Manuel into some of his own. "I like it too. When it's just you and me, I mean."  
"I knew what you meant," Thomas assured him, smiling. "How are your classes going?"  
"They're fine," Manuel shrugged, trying to avoid thinking about all the homework he had to do before class on Wednesday. "A lot of work, but I like it so I don't mind."  
"Why did you pick Literature for a major?" Thomas asked. When Manuel made a face Thomas tagged on with, "I showed you mine, now show me yours."  
"That was over a month ago, you can't still use that," Manuel argued.  
"Of course I can," Thomas responded simply and well.  
"I don't know," Manuel told him, pulling the sleeves of his jumper over his hands. He was pretty sure it was Bastian's or Lukas's based on the way he was practically swimming in it. "I've always been good at it. I guess I just like the idea of things meaning something, even if you can't tell what they mean right away. Like, just one word means so much in literature. I like the idea of something carrying so much power but like, secretly."  
Thomas was smiling softly at him when Manuel looked up at him again. "You are something, Manuel Neuer."  
"You're not so bad yourself, Thomas Müller."  
"What about the Art minor?" Thomas questioned.  
Manuel shrugged. "I've always liked art too, I guess. I'm not anything special, but I like it. When I got to uni it just seemed like the right thing to do."  
"Sounds good to me," Thomas told him.   
They sat there for a minute, kind of smiling at each other, then Thomas reached over and plopped two packages of peanut butter cups in front of Manuel. "Just these please."  
"Thomas," Manuel huffed, scanning in the chocolate. "Stop buying me candy."  
"I like buying you candy," Thomas said, almost indignantly. "It's like I'm paying rent for all the time I spend at your flat."  
"We should just have you a key made and put your name on the lease, honestly," Manuel joked as Thomas handed him some notes.  
"I'll move into your room, you can sleep on the couch," Thomas teased.  
"It's a very comfortable couch," Manuel retorted.  
Thomas gave him a look as he opened his candy. "No it isn't."  
"No, it isn't," Manuel agreed laughing.  
"Don't make me eat alone," Thomas pouted, a peanut butter cup halfway to his lips.  
"I'm on the clock, Thomas, I can't be eating sweets," Manuel argued, already opening the package Thomas had just purchased for him.  
"Lukas and Bastian are doing God knows what in the break room," Thomas returned, nose scrunching up. "I think you'll be okay if you have a few bites of chocolate."  
Manuel smiled at him and popped a peanut butter cup in his mouth whole.  
"You're eating them wrong," Thomas scolded like he did every single time Manuel ate peanut butter cups in front of him.  
"Maybe you're eating them wrong," Manuel challenged as Thomas bit his peanut butter cup, splitting it into two parts.  
Thomas stuck out his tongue, a repulsive mix of chocolate and peanut butter on display.  
"You're disgusting, mate," Manuel groaned.  
Thomas just grinned and they finished their peanut butter cups together.

\----

Manuel: are you busy tonight?  
Thomas: nooooooo why?  
Manuel: the lads and I were gonna play some laser tag, were wondering if you wanted to come  
Thomas: sounds fun. what time?  
Manuel: 8? meet us at the store.  
Thomas: coooooool. c u

\----

It was ten to eight when Thomas walked into the store.  
"Sup, Mülli?" Lukas greeted him.  
"Hey, Lukki," Thomas pulled Lukas into a headlock, ruffling his hair.   
Lukas pulled away from Thomas, running his hands through his hair and tugging at the roots   
"It's hot," Bastian told him from where he was locking up his till.  
"You're hot," Lukas returned, going over to kiss at Bastian's jawline.  
"Can you guys not?" Philipp groaned from where he was sitting on Manuel's counter.   
They'd already closed up pretty much everything else. They just had to flip the last light off and then lock the door. Every day was a pretty slow day at the store (it was in a small town with a shoppingcenter only a few miles away; it was more for just picking up small things or things needed in a pinch), but Fridays were always especially slow.  
"We haven't done anything all day," Bastian protested as Lukas kissed down his neck.  
"You got off in the shower together this morning," Manuel made a face at them.  
"That was at home, this is at work," Lukas pulled away long enough to inform them. They started snogging in earnest and Philipp and Manuel rolled their eyes.  
"How were your classes today, Thomas?" Philipp asked.  
"They were good," Thomas brightened. "And at work they actually let me start working with some of the exhibits. It's just penguins for now, but I like penguins."  
"We'll have to come into the city and visit you at work one of these days," Manuel said. "You can give us the grand tour and teach us all about the terrifying creatures that live in the ocean."  
"They're not terrifying," Thomas frowned. "Most of them are extremely gentle."  
Philipp smacked Manuel upside the head. "Don't listen to Neuer. He just thinks they're terrifying because he's scared of the water, aren't you, Manulein?"  
Manuel glared. "First of all, don't call me Manulein. And second of all, I am not scared of the water."  
"No, you just can't swim," Philipp countered.  
"You can't swim?" Thomas questioned.  
Manuel turned red. "No. Never learned."  
"I used to be a lifeguard," Thomas offered because of course he used to be a lifeguard. Manuel had to bite his lip to keep from groaning out loud. "I could teach you."  
"It's December, Thomas. Not a whole lot of places to go swimming this time of year," Manuel pointed out.  
"So when it gets warmer," Thomas shrugged. "If you guys aren't sick of me by then."  
"Never gonna be sick of you," Bastian came up behind Thomas and threw his arms around Thomas's shoulder and Manuel wished it were that easy for him. He wished that he could just touch Thomas and not have it mean anything, not have it feel like he'd been shocked by static electricity at every point of contact. "Are we ready to go?"  
They shut off the last of the lights and locked up the front door. They chatted amicably on their way to the train station and laughed the whole way to the Laser Tag place. It was empty.  
"It's a Friday night, where is everyone?" Thomas asked.  
"Lukas knows the owner," Bastian answered. "So we always get a few hours to ourselves every few weeks or so.  
"Podolski!" a voice called out as they walked towards the front desk.  
"Miroslav fucking Klose!" Lukas shouted out in response. "How've you been?"  
"I've been good, mate," Miroslav came out from behind the counter and pulled Lukas into one of those hugs where they clasped hands and chest bumped and patted each other on the back all at the same time.   
"Bastian, nice to see you. Philipp, Manuel, and... Sorry. You're new?"  
"I'm Thomas," Thomas held out his hand for Miro to shake. "Thomas Müller."  
"Oh, so you're Thomas," Miroslav said, shaking Thomas's hand firmly. "Heard a lot about you, bro."  
"All good things, I hope," Thomas laughed.  
"Never," Philipp cut in sharply. "We only speak ill of you actually."  
Thomas reached out to try and pinch Philipp, but Philipp ducked behind Lukas, giving Thomas a decidedly unimpressed face as he did.  
"Alright, lads, how do you want to split up the teams seeing as we have Mr. Müller here with us this time?" Miro asked, going behind the desk and typing something into the computer.  
"Manuel will be on Philipp's team, like always." Bastian answered, rolling his eyes. Manuel wrapped his arms around Philipp' shoulders and touched their temples together, a habit he'd picked up when they were sleeping together that he'd never really lost. "And me and Lukas, obviously. So that just leaves you and Thomas."  
"Miro can be on our team this time," Lukas decided. "Philipp and Manuel had him last time."  
"We'll take Thomas then," Manuel said, smiling at Thomas. "Or do you want him as well as Miro? Maybe then you'd finally have a chance at winning."  
"Fuck off," Lukas retorted, flipping Manuel off for good measure. Manuel just leaned over and knocked his knuckles against the brim of Lukas's snapback.  
"Alright," Miro said, finishing typing their information into the computer. "We're good to go. Manuel, Philipp, Thomas, you guys are red. We'll be blue."  
"Sick, mate, let's do it!" Philipp cheered. They all made their way into the room that had the vests and guns they'd be using. "Now, Thomas. I know you like to act all nice and polite, but this is not the place for that. Laser tag is a brutal, brutal game and Manuel and I are undefeated. You wouldn't want to be responsible for ruining that record, now would you?"  
"Lay off, Phips," Manuel warned.  
Thomas, on the other hand, shook his head solemnly. "Of course I wouldn't. I won't let you down, Captain Lahm."  
"Piss off," Philipp shot him a sarcastic but fond smile. Manuel wanted to poke at Philipp's cheek and chant "your fault" at him, but he knew it wouldn't go over well. Philipp had been trying to corrupt Thomas since he came out with them that first night. He thought Thomas was too earnest all the time and was determined to make him a bit feistier. It had worked, but Manuel was pretty sure Philipp regretted just how well it had worked whenever Thomas turned it back on him.  
"Are you going to trash talk your own teammates or are we going to play?" Bastian demanded, already suited up and leaning against a wall.  
"We're going to play," Philipp told him firmly as he snapped the last part of his vest into place. He stalked past Bastian towards the door that led to the room where they would play. "And just a friendly reminder, Schweinsteiger? Life is not a photo shoot."  
Bastian smirked as he followed Philipp to where Miro was punching a number into the keypad by the door.  
"Okay," Miro started and everyone but Thomas groaned. "Oh piss off, I have to give the safety speech for insurance reasons and you know it."  
"We're not going to sue you, Miroslav," Manuel told him.  
"I'm not taking any chances," Miro answered. "Please keep in mind that the lighting is low inside of the arena and it will be difficult to see. Watch your step and head at all times. There are emergency buttons placed along the walls of the arena that will stop the game and turn the lights on. If at any point you want to quit the game and cannot make it back to this door, simply find a wall and follow it until you find an emergency button. There are sensors on both the front and back of your chests and well as on your shoulders, front and back. Your gun has a sensor on either side. If any of these sensors are hit, you will be rendered unable to shoot for thirty seconds, though that does not mean you cannot get shot at. Each sensor is worth points, as well as the targets that have been placed around the arena. If you get hit five times, you are out and must exit the arena. The team with the most points at the end wins. If you get hurt or injured at any time, please either hit the emergency button or bloody tell me when we finish the game so I can file paperwork if I have to."  
"Have you quite finished?" Philipp asked.  
"I have, thank you," Miro responded. "And I can't wait to kick your arse."  
"In your wildest dreams, maybe," Philipp shot back.  
"I'll kick your arse there, too," Miro informed him.  
Philipp batted his eyelashes at Miro and asked, "Are you telling me you have dreams about my arse? No one would blame you, it is a very nice bum."  
"Shut up, Phips," Miro sighed, exasperated. "Let's fucking do this, yeah?"  
They all whooped then and Miroslav flung the door open and they all raced into the laser tag arena.  
"We have about a minute to hide or split up or whatever," Manuel explained to Thomas as the door swung shut behind them. "Then we'll hear like beeping and shit and then it's game time."  
"Got it," Thomas said. "Do you mind if I stick close to you? At least until I kind of get an idea of what it's like?"  
"Don't slow him down," Philipp warned as he raced by.  
Manuel grinned at Thomas, just a sharp flash of white in the dim room and motioned for Thomas to follow him.  
Thomas stuck close to Manuel and Manuel weaved his way through the course that was set up to make the game more challenging. Manuel could feel the heat of Thomas's chest pressed against his back and it was... distracting, to say the least.  
Manuel pulled Thomas into a small crevice and motioned for him to be silent. Thomas burst out in giggles at Manuel's serious expression.  
"Thomaas," Manuel whined at him. "You have to be quiet."  
"We haven't even started yet," Thomas protested.  
"That doesn't mean no one can hear us," Manuel informed him primly.  
Thomas rolled his eyes and started laughing again as Manuel furrowed his brows at him. He stopped laughing, however, when Manuel put his hand firmly over Thomas's mouth to muffle the sounds.  
Thomas's eyes widened as they met Manuel's. Thomas's breath was warm against Manuel's palm where it was pressed against Thomas's lips and Manuel felt it when Thomas's breathing hitched in his chest and came out short. Manuel's eyes were the ones widening now as he lowered his hand. Thomas's eyes dropped to Manuel's lips and Manuel stiffened, tongue coming out to lick his lips against his will. Thomas made a low sound in the back of his throat.  
They were interrupted by the sound of the buzzer announcing the start of the game.  
"Now what?" Thomas asked, voice hushed and face close.  
We quit this stupid game and you stick your tongue down my throat, Manuel thought bitterly to himself.   
Out loud, he answered, "We have two choices. We can venture out and try to hunt them down, or we can stay here and wait for them to try and find us."  
"Let's go out. It'll be more fun that way!" Thomas exclaimed. Manuel wanted to pull his hair out. No, actually, he wanted Thomas to pull his hair.  
"Fine," Manuel agreed. "Let's go."  
They crept out of their hiding spot, looking around carefully for any sign of Lukas, Miroslav, or Bastian. They could hear shouting coming from somewhere in the arena, but they couldn't tell whose it was.  
"Freeze, motherfuckers," Lukas had adopted an American accent. They both whirled around to see Lukas standing there, his laser gun aimed at them.  
"Fuck off, Lukki," Manuel yelled to him before he grabbed Thomas's hand and started them running.

\----

"That was so much fun!" Thomas exclaimed as they left laser tag later that night. There was a small pub close by that they usually went to after playing where they could get food and alcohol.  
"You're just saying that because you won," Lukas grumbled at him. Lukas hated losing; he couldn't even be soothed by Bastian pressing kisses to the side of his face.  
"Not my fault you picked the losing team," Thomas teased.  
"I didn't pick anything," Lukas glared at Philipp and Manuel.  
Philipp grinned in response and explained for Thomas's benefit. "The first time we played it was me and Bastian versus Lukas, Manuel, and Miroslav and it came down to Lukas and Bastian. They each had one hit left, but they refused to shoot each other because Bastian knows how much Lukas likes to win and Lukas doesn't like when Bastian pouts at him. So we had to call it a draw. We make them play on the same team now."  
"That's..." Thomas paused. "That's actually really adorable."  
"Thank you, Thomas." Lukas smiled at him, reaching out to pull Bastian closer even though they were already walking on top of each other.  
"Now you've done it," Philipp scolded as Bastian threw his head back and laughed at something Lukas whispered to him.  
"Oops," Thomas said, but he didn't sound very apologetic.  
Philipp caught up with Miroslav then, asking him if he'd caught the football match that had been on last night.  
"I'm really glad you guys invited me out that first night," Thomas told Manuel when they were alone. They fell into step with each other and behind everyone else. "You guys are great."  
"Yeah, yeah." Manuel smirked at him. "But don't tell Phips or Basti. It'll go straight to their heads."  
"What about you? Not going to your head?" Thomas asked, chuckling.  
"Nah," Manuel answered. "I already know I'm the greatest. My ego is already as big as it can get."  
"I don't think that's true," Thomas told him, raising his eyebrows sceptically and making Manuel laugh. "But yeah, you are the greatest."  
Manuel flushed and Thomas looked away like he could tell and he didn't want to make Manuel more embarrassed by calling attention to it. The words formed on the tip of Manuel's tongue as the kept walking, pressed close together in silence now. When we were hiding... What was that? He wants so badly to say those words to Thomas, to stop him in the middle of the sidewalk and demand some answers. Because up until now, Manuel had been pretty sure his crush was one sided, but if Thomas felt the same...   
Well, that changed everything.  
They reached the pub before Manuel had the courage to spit out the words.

"You guys go in, I'm gonna stay out here and grab some fresh air," Manuel told them. It was cold, so everyone but Philipp just nodded and ducked inside.

"I'll stay out here with you," Philipp told Manuel, coming to lean against the wall beside him.

"Phips, no," Manuel protested. "It's freezing. Go inside and get warm."

"Nah, I'd rather be out here with you," Philipp said and the worst part is that Manuel knows it's the truth. And he knows that he would do the same for Philipp, too, if he could tell that Philipp was as stuck inside his own head the way Manuel was. "Reminds me of the good old days when I used to smoke and bitch less."

"I like your bitching," Manuel nudged Philipp' shoulder with his own.

"Liar," Philipp scoffed at him and Manuel shrugged, giving up the game. Philipp rolled his eyes. "Do you want to talk about Thomas?"

Manuel shrugged again, turning his face so that Philipp couldn't see it.

"Come on, Manulein," Philipp coaxed, but the nickname wasn't said in jest this time. Philipp was being serious. "What's up?"

"I think Thomas might like me back."

"What?" Philipp exclaimed, careful to still keep his voice kind of low in case any of the others decided to join them unexpectedly. "That's great, isn't it?"

Manuel shrugged, bumping their shoulders together.

"If you shrug one more time, Manuel Neuer," Philipp threatened. "I'll never make you another cup of tea so long as we live."

"I mean, I guess it's good, yeah," Manuel ignored Philipp' empty threat. "But now it's like, what do I do? Do I push it? Do I tell him that I fancy him? Or do I just leave well enough alone? I don't want to fuck this up, Phips. I don't want to mess up my friendship with him or mess with the group. This is a good thing we have, the five of us. I don't want to ruin it."

"I get that," Philipp said, after a minute of silence. "I do. And I agree. I like hanging out the five of us. But, I also think that you and Thomas could be really good for each other. Like, fuck, Manuel. He dragged you out of bed before noon on a Sunday to go see a movie because he thought you would like it. He talks about you all the time when you're not there or you're in another room. If I have to hear him call your hair cool one more time..."

Philipp trailed off and Manuel shot him a look. "How come you never told me any of this?"

It was Philipp turn to shrug. "I didn't want to make it something more than it was, if it wasn't anything. You know how Thomas is. He's just so earnest and enthusiastic about everything. I didn't want to tell you that he said something if he hadn't meant it the way you wanted him to."

"So why are you telling me now?"

"Because I think you should go for it. I think you and Thomas could be really, really good, mate. Give Lukas and Bastian a run for their money."

"Shut up," Manuel knocked their shoulders together a little harder, letting out a short laugh.

Philipp laughed too. "Alright, maybe not. But he's a great guy, Manu. And you're a great guy. And you both deserve great guys."

Manuel pulled Philipp into a quick hug. "Thanks, mate."

"Yeah, yeah," Philipp smiled, pushing Manuel off gently. "Can we go inside now? It's bloody freezing out here."

Manuel chuckled as he tucked Philipp under his arm and they made their way inside.

They squished into the booth at the back where the rest of the boys were already waiting, a plate of nachos on the table.

"Thank god," Lukas said as they sat down, Manuel pressed against Thomas on one side with Philipp against him on the other. Lukas and Bastian both dug into the nachos.

"Aw, you waited for us," Manuel cooed at them. "How sweet."

"Miroslav made us," Lukas assured Manuel, mouth full of chips and cheese.  
Miro sent Philipp and Manuel a smile before digging into the nachos himself. 

Between the six of them, they finished off the full order in just a few minutes.

"Pints!" Lukas exclaimed. "It is time for pints!"

"I'll get them, yeah?" Bastian offered.

"I love you very much," Lukas told him and turned his face up for a kiss as Bastian stood.

Bastian bent down to kiss him sweetly. "I know that."

"You two are awful," Miroslav complained.

"You're just jealous," Lukas responded, his eyes trained on Bastian where he was ordering them drinks at the bar.

Miroslav rolled his eyes. “Sure I am.”

They split another plate of nachos and drank a few beers. They ordered burgers and blessedly greasy chips and scarfed those down. They drank more beers and before they knew it, the pub was closing and they were out on the sidewalk in the cold.

“You can stay at ours tonight, Thomas,” Lukas told Thomas as they headed down the street.

“No, it’s fine,” Thomas answered. “I can get a cab, mate.”

Bastian looked at Thomas strangely. “That’s stupid. Just stay with us. I’ll make breakfast in the morning.”

Thomas looked conflicted. Manuel knocked his knuckles against Thomas as they walked side by side. Thomas glanced over at Manuel and the smile he offered up.

“Yeah, sure,” Thomas said. “A sleepover and breakfast sounds great.”

“You can bunk with Manu,” Bastian said because Bastian was an asshole. Manuel was going to move out and find new friends.

“Is that okay?” Thomas turned to Manuel. “I can always sleep on the couch, I don’t mind.”

“That couch is awful, Thomas,” Manuel told him, shrugging and trying to play it off like no big deal. He could feel Bastian’s grin trained on him without looking. “Of course you can stay in with me.”

“Thanks,” Thomas said, grateful.

Miroslav left them for his own flat not long after and they made their way home, joking around and pushing at each other. They were probably being a little bit louder than politeness dictated they be at this hour on a Friday night, but Manuel was drunk enough that he didn’t care. He had Lukas on one side of him, singing Polish ballads into his neck and Philipp on the other, shaking his fringe out so that it kept brushing Manuel’s cheek and then laughing like a madman. Thomas had thrown Bastian over his shoulder and was carrying him down the street in front of them. 

All in all, it had been a pretty great night.

\----

“Water,” Lukas commanded when they walked through the door of the flat. “Everyone go drink at least two glasses of water.”

“Fuck off,” Philipp responded. Bastian was already tugging his shirt off.

“No,” Lukas glared. “You’re all right bastards in the morning if you have hangovers. Everyone, water. Now.”

“I love it when you boss me around,” Bastian whispered. (Manuel’s giving him the benefit of the doubt that he at least tried to whisper.)

“I know, baby, I know,” Lukas told him, plastering himself against Bastian’s back and walking him to the kitchen.

“I love when you manhandle me, too,” Bastian continued.

Lukas pressed a smile into the back of Bastian’s neck and if Manuel didn’t already feel like throwing up because of the alcohol, he would feel like throwing up now.

“You guys are so cute,” Thomas cooed.

They both shot Thomas blinding smiles before disappearing into the kitchen.

“I don’t wanna drink water,” Philipp whined. “I want to drink vodka. Don’t we have some in the cabinet?”

“No, Phips,” Manuel said. “You’ve had enough.”

“Never enough,” Philipp pouted.

Thomas nudged Philipp towards the kitchen. “More than enough.”

Manuel followed Philipp and Thomas into the kitchen. Bastian was seated on the counter with Lukas in between his legs, drinking a glass of water. When it was empty, he handed it to Lukas who refilled it and gave it back to him with a stern look. Bastian smiled sheepishly and downed the whole glass.

“Here, Manuel.” Manuel focused back on the rest of the room. Thomas was holding out a glass of water towards him.

“Thanks,” Manuel’s fingers brushed Thomas’s as he took the glass.  
Thomas smiled in response and took a long gulp from his own glass.

“Alright, we’re heading to bed,” Lukas announced, helping Bastian down from the counter a few minutes later.

“Are you going to actually sleep or should we put music on?” Philipp wanted to know. 

Manuel wasn’t sure how Bastian and Lukas had ended up with the middle bedroom, but it had been a mistake. The walls in this flat weren’t exactly thick.

“Actual sleep,” Lukas decided after looking at Bastian, who was practically asleep on his shoulder already.

“Thank god,” Philipp muttered before kissing both Lukas and Bastian on the forehead. “Goodnight.”

“Night, Philipp,” Lukas said.

Bastian leaned himself upright enough to pull Philipp into a hug. “Night, Boo.”

“Don’t call me that,” Philipp told him, but there was no heat behind it and Bastian just gave him a lazy smile as Lukas started them towards their bedroom.

“Are you good if we turn in, Phips?” Manuel asked, putting his empty glass in the sink.

“Yeah.” Philipp scratched at his stomach absently. “I’m gonna head to bed too, I think.”

“Probably a good idea,” Thomas smiled softly at him.

Philipp smiled back and then kissed both Manuel and Thomas on the forehead before turning and heading to his own room.

“Do you want to shower or anything?” Manuel asked Thomas.

“Nah,” Thomas answered easily. “I just want to crawl under some blankets and sleep.”

“We can do that, yeah,” Manuel nudged Thomas with his hip as they made their way out of the kitchen.

They closed the door to Manuel’s room quietly behind them, not bothering with turning the lights on as they stripped out of their shirts and trousers and climbed into Manuel’s bed. Manuel wished he had ignored Lukas’s demand that they all drink water and had taken up Philipp’ idea of more alcohol instead as Thomas slid under the duvet next to him.

“What’s up with Philipp and forehead kisses?” Thomas asked once he was settled. There was a valley of space in between them, a few cool inches of mattress separating them. Manuel simultaneously wanted to move closer and farther away.

Manuel shrugged, knowing Thomas was close enough to feel the movement. “It’s just his thing, I guess. Did you drink both your glasses of water?”

“Yes, mum,” Thomas huffed out a laugh.

“I don’t want to wake up to a grumpy Thomas,” Manuel protested.

Thomas rolled over so he was facing Manuel, who was still lying on his back looking at the ceiling. “We wake up to a grumpy Manuel like, everyday.”

Manuel turned his head to pout at Thomas. Thomas just laughed.

“I‘m not grumpy,” Manuel argued as his eyes started to close. He was more tired than he’d originally thought. “I‘m very charming.”

“Of course you are.”

“Good night, Thomas,” Manuel slurred out through a smile.

“Good night, Manuel,” Thomas answered back.

Silence stretched out between them as Manuel’s breathing evened out. He was almost, almost asleep when he felt it: Thomas’s lips against his own.  
It was fast, so fast that Manuel wasn’t sure he hadn’t dreamt it. But he could hear the way Thomas’s breathing had sped up just a tiny bit, could feel the way his body was tense on the mattress like he was waiting for Manuel to move or wake up. Manuel kept his eyes closed and fought to keep himself from reacting in any way.

He waited until he was sure Thomas was asleep. And then he waited a few more minutes. Then, he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Thomas, asleep on the pillow next to him, body turned towards Manuel. His mouth was open just a little, his brow furrowed as he slept. Manuel wanted to smooth the crease out of his brow, murmur nonsense to him until he relaxed. He did none of those things, but he did turn onto his side and fell asleep facing Thomas.

\----

Manuel woke up the next morning to an empty bed. Which shouldn’t have felt strange as he woke up to an empty bed most days. But he specifically remembered falling asleep with Thomas in his bed last night. And, more than that, he remembered Thomas kissing him last night. At least, he thought it was a kiss. He doesn’t really know what else it could have been, but he had been tired and still a little drunk.

Manuel climbed out of his bed, stretching like a cat as he pulled a pair of tracks from his dresser drawer. He slid them on easily, downed two paracetamol with a gulp of water, and went out into the flat. Philipp was lying on the couch with a pillow over his face. Bastian and Lukas were in the kitchen.

“Smells good, babes,” Manuel came up behind Bastian where he was standing at the cooker, frying up some eggs. He wrapped his arms around Bastian’s waist and bit into his shoulder gently.

“Get off my boyfriend, Neuer,” Lukas grumbled from where he was mixing up batter for waffles.

Manuel released Bastian, making his way over to Lukas and clinging to him instead. Bastian glanced over at them and rolled his eyes.

“Where’s Thomas?” Manuel asked.

"He left like, three hours ago,” Philipp called from the couch. “I got up to piss and he was sneaking out. Said he forgot he picked up an extra shift at the aquarium today.”

“Yeah, sure,” Manuel bit at his bottom lip. “I think Thomas kissed me last night.”

Philipp was in the kitchen before Manuel even finished his sentence.

“You think?” Bastian seemed amused. “You’re not sure?”  
“No,” Manuel admitted. “I was almost asleep.”  
“Aw, did you dream that Thomas was kissing you?” Philipp teased.  
Manuel frowned at him and Lukas swatted at Philipp. “Don’t be mean, Phips. Manulein was kissed by the love of his life and he doesn’t even know if it really happened!”  
“I don’t know why I continue to live here,” Manuel growled at them.  
“Because we love you and you love us,” Bastian told him simply. He plated some of the eggs and put them down at Manuel’s spot at the table. “And I make you breakfast.”  
“You do make me breakfast,” Manuel responded. Bastian swatted at him with the spatula in retaliation.

\----

Manuel: you left :(  
Thomas: yeah sorry. forgot I had to work :(((  
Manuel: you missed breakfast  
Thomas: next time

\----

Except there wasn’t a next time.   
There couldn’t be.   
Thomas went into exams at his university that week and the boys were lined up to go into their own exams a week later.  
“I’m going to pull my fucking hair out if I have to read one more word about studio design,” Lukas complained loudly, shoving his textbook away from himself.  
All the boys were stressed as they entered exam week. Lukas and Philipp were the worst though. Philipp lived in total denial of the upcoming exams.  
“You have to study, Phips,” Bastian said.  
“I don’t have to do anything,” Philipp would retort. Eventually, Bastian talked Philipp into cracking his textbook and making a few flashcards at least.  
Lukas got stressed. He forgot to eat and sometimes to sleep in an attempt to learn an entire term’s worth of work in a week. He barely looked away from his revision enough to kiss Bastian goodnight. Manuel made it a point to spend extra time with Bastian while Lukas was busy with his books.  
Bastian had been preparing for his exams for almost three weeks, so he took it upon himself to take care of everyone else while they freaked out and revised until half three in the morning.  
Manuel studied in bursts. There would be nights where he barely studied at all, balanced out by afternoons where he didn't look up from his textbook. Living together wasn't a challenge until exam week and then sometimes it felt like Manuel's personal brand of Hell.

It had been almost two weeks since they’d seen him when Thomas walked into the store on the afternoon of the day before Manuel’s last day of exams.  
“Thomas!” Bastian cheered. He’d finished his last exam that morning and was, now, blissfully stress free.  
“Where have you been?” Philipp snapped at Thomas, capping his highlighter and putting his book aside. Bastian frowned at him. Philipp still had two exams to go.  
Thomas flushed a bit. “I had exams and stuff. And then I figured I would give you guys space to study. I know how stressful it is.”  
“Very, very stressful,” Philipp agreed, leaning against Bastian’s counter. “Manuel hasn’t done more than grunt and glare at us for three days.”  
Manuel looked up from his textbook to glare at Philipp who rolled his eyes and said, “You see?”  
“Where’s Lukas?” Thomas asked.  
“In the back room,” Bastian answered. “It’s a slow day, so he’s been hanging back there doing some revision. I should probably check on him soon.”  
“Go ahead, we’ve got the front covered,” Philipp told Bastian. Bastian kissed him on the cheek and disappeared. Philipp looked between Thomas and Manuel and then announced, “Well, I have some restocking to do in cosmetics. Don’t burn down the store while I’m away.”  
“Manuel?” Thomas asked tentatively once Philipp was gone.  
Manuel grunted in response as he read something about brushstrokes and their importance. He looked up when Thomas’s hand came down on his own. He raised his eyebrows and Thomas blushed just a bit.  
“Take a break for a second,” Thomas coaxed him, sliding his hand off of Manuel’s and sliding Manuel’s textbook out of reach. “Your face is gonna get stuck like that.”  
“Like what?” Manuel demanded.  
Thomas laughed and hopped up onto the counter. He poked Manuel in the middle of his forehead. “All wrinkly and frowny.”  
“That’s not very nice, Thommy,” Manuel whined but he was smiling.  
Thomas blushed and swung his legs so they banged against the counter. “I like when you say my name like that.”  
Manuel smirked at that. "Like what? I don't know what you're talking about."  
"Yes you do." Thomas rolled his eyes. Thomas rolled his eyes almost as much as Manuel did at this point. “You get all Germany-y.”  
“Do I?” Manuel laughed a little under his breath. He stopped laughing, however, when Thomas reached out and laced their fingers together, holding Manuel’s hand in his own.   
And it’s so stupid that something as simple as Thomas taking his hand makes his heart rate speed up and his breathing catch. They’re a very tactile group of friends. Manuel has held the other boys’ hands more times than he can count. This shouldn’t be a big deal.  
But it is because it’s Thomas.   
Thomas, who might have kissed Manuel a few weeks ago.   
Thomas, who’s just sitting there, smiling at Manuel and telling Manuel he likes how Manuel says his name and holding Manuel’s hand.  
“Yeah,” Thomas moved his thumb in small circles on Manuel’s skin. “It’s kind of sexy.”  
Manuel almost choked on his tongue. “Thomas, I -”  
They were interrupted by the return of Bastian, who was tugging Lukas along by the arm.  
“Bastian, let me go!” Lukas yelled. “I have more reading to do.”  
“You can spend five minutes away from your books, Lukas,” Bastian argued with him. “Thomas’s here, you can come say hello.”  
Manuel was going to hide Bastian’s body where no one would ever find it.  
They came into view of the counters and Thomas pulled his hand back from Manuel’s.  
“Hi, Thomas,” Lukas greeted, voice devoid of the usual enthusiasm. “Bye, Thomas.”  
“No.” Bastian caught the back of Lukas’s jumper, pulling Lukas into his side. “You need a break.”  
“More like you want to get off.” Philipp popped back out from the shelves.  
Bastian tucked Lukas under his chin, pulling him into his chest instead of his side so he could wrap his long arms around Lukas tightly. “If we wanted to get off, we would have stayed in the back room.”  
“Please don’t talk about getting off in the break room that we all use,” Manuel pleaded.  
Lukas flashed a grin over his shoulder at Manuel and the started pressing kisses to Bastian’s neck, which he stretched to give Lukas more access to.  
“I should go.” Thomas slid off of Manuel’s counter. He grabbed a package of peanut butter cups and placed them on the counter, putting the money for them in Manuel’s hand.  
Manuel gave Thomas his change as Thomas ripped open the package. He bit into a peanut butter cup and gave Manuel a chocolaty smile.   
Manuel shook his head as Thomas popped the other half of the peanut butter cup into his mouth.   
He shook the other one out of the package and pressed it into Manuel’s palm.  
“For you, yeah?” Thomas grinned, almost shy, as he backed away towards the front door of the store.  
“For me, yeah,” Manuel turned the peanut butter cup between his fingers. “Thanks, Thommy.”  
Thomas blushed as he pushed through the door and left.  
“Well,” Philipp said. “If you two are quite finished.”  
“Shut up, Phips,” Manuel said, but he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face as he ate the peanut butter cup whole.

\----

Manuel doesn’t see Thomas again until the Saturday before they’re all getting ready to leave for winter break.  
“I can’t believe you guys are going to leave me here all by myself for the holidays,” Thomas whined at them.  
“We’re going to be gone for two weeks,” Bastian told him. “We’ll be back for the new year.”  
“And we’re going to go out,” Lukas chimed in. “Celebrate Phips’s birthday with a delayed birthday party.”  
“Though I still expect four phone calls on Christmas Eve,” Philipp informed them.  
“I want a phone call every day,” Manuel said. “From all of you.”  
Thomas put the basket he’d been filling for the past half hour on Manuel’s counter and Manuel pulled out one of the sugary cereals Thomas favoured, making a face at it as he rang it up.  
For the most part, Thomas relied on his parents for food, it was part of the deal he’d made with them when he’d agreed to move back home. He had a huge sweet tooth though (that wasn’t just restricted to candy) and his mom refused to contribute to the cavities Thomas was sure to eventually get. Thomas came in every Saturday to stock up on overly sweet treats and sugary snacks.  
“My mum always throws this huge Christmas party on Christmas Eve,” Thomas went on, but more to Manuel than to the other three. Bastian threw a wink at Manuel as they all pretended to be occupied by their mobiles and each other, effectively leaving Manuel and Thomas alone. “She invites, like, everyone we’ve ever met, bless her. She wanted me to bring you guys with me, but I told her you’re all going home for the holiday.”  
“Maybe next year,” Manuel told him and Thomas’s answering smile was so bright, that Manuel had to look away.  
“It’s just awkward, you know, because my ex is going to be there and we left things in a really weird place,” Thomas went on. “I’m hoping we can fix it when we see each other.”  
It was as Thomas admitted this out loud that Manuel scanned in the last two items from Thomas’s basket: a box of condoms and lube.   
Thomas rambled on a bit more about his ex and trying to make things better between them, but Manuel couldn’t hear anything over the rushing sound in his ears.  
God, he was so stupid. Of course Thomas had a boy back home (or girl, Manuel wasn’t actually sure). Manuel had mistaken Thomas starting to fit into their group as something else. He was so mad at himself, he should have known better than to read into anything that had happened. Thomas was too attractive, too sweet, too wonderful to not already have someone.   
And yeah, it was his ex, but if Thomas wanted to fix things between them, to get back together, then he would.  
Manuel looked up at Thomas, but didn’t make eye contact as he told him how much he owed. Thomas handed Manuel the money and Manuel put it in the till, handing Thomas his change, eyes still downcast.  
“Text me when you get back, okay?” Thomas asked as he collected his things.  
"Sure, yeah," Manuel agreed, still not meeting Thomas's eye.  
Thomas's hand came under Manuel's chin and tilted Manuel's chin up until Manuel was forced to meet Thomas's eyes. "I'll call you. And you can call me, yeah?"  
"Yeah," Manuel answered and then pulled his chin away so he didn't have to look at Thomas anymore.  
Thomas smiled and said goodbye to the other boys, accepting hugs from all of them.  
"Let him go, Philipp. We're only going to be gone for two weeks," Manuel heard Lukas groan as he wrestled Philipp away from Thomas. Once Thomas was free of Philipp' death grip, he turned and left the store, tucking his jacket a bit tighter around him against the cold wind.  
"Well, that was interesting,” Philipp climbed up onto Manuel’s counter.  
Manuel shrugged. “That’s one word for it.”

\----

Thomas: merry Christmas Manuel!  
Manuel: same to you, Thomas  
Thomas: missssssss you  
Thomas: are you having a nice holiday?  
Thomas: can’t wait to seeeee you when you get back!  
Thomas: Manuel?

\----

Manuel let Thomas’s messages sit unanswered in his phone all of break. He spent time with his family, saw some of his old friends, and tried not to think about how Thomas and his ex were probably back together, fucking passionately beneath a Christmas tree while Thomas’s parents were out for dinner. They were still sitting in his mobile as he shoved open the door to the flat with his shoulder.  
“You’re back!” Lukas threw himself across the room and latched onto Manuel tightly.  
“I am,” Manuel agreed, dropping his bag to wrap his arms around Lukas’s waist.  
“Manuel’s back!” Bastian yelled coming out of the loo. “Phips! Manuel’s back!”  
“This flat isn’t that big,” Philipp commented coming out of the kitchen, a bag of crisps in hand. “I heard the door open.”  
“Don’t be a twat,” Manuel scoffed at Philipp over Lukas’s shoulder. Bastian came over and pried Lukas away so he could envelop Manuel in a hug of his own.  
“Someone has to be,” Philipp shrugged, crossing the room and waiting for Bastian to disentangle his long limbs from around Manuel. Manuel reached out then and pulled Philipp in by the back of the neck, forcing him into a tight hug. “Thomas will be here in a few minutes and then we’re going to head out. Basti made reservations at that restaurant in the city I like and then we’re off to the club!”  
“With VIP passes,” Bastian added, looking at something on his phone. “You remember my friend Toni Kroos from back home?”  
“Unfortunately,” Philipp muttered under his breath.  
“Well he works as a Radio One DJ now and he got passes for the New Year’s Eve Bash at one of the clubs in the city tonight but he couldn’t make it, so he gave them to me!” Bastian grinned.  
“Sick, mate,” Manuel let go of Philipp to fist bump Bastian. “Let me put my stuff away and change.”  
Manuel picked his bag up and headed into his room, closing the door behind him. Or, he tried to close the door at least.  
“Hey, mate,” Lukas said, coming into Manuel’s room and closing the door behind himself. “Can we talk?”  
“Sure,” Manuel tossed his bag onto his bed and opened the door to his closet. He slipped out of his jacket and tugged his jumper off as he searched for something suitable to wear out tonight.  
“I talked to Thomas,” Lukas started. Manuel kept his back to Lukas, suddenly more focused on finding something to wear. “He says you didn’t answer his texts the whole time we were away. Which is weird mate, because you answered my texts. And Phips says you answered his, too, and I know you answered Bastian’s. So why didn’t you answer Thomas’s?”  
Manuel shrugged. “Just got busy, I guess.”  
“That’s bullshit, Manuel,” Lukas groaned, throwing himself onto Manuel’s bed and knocking Manuel’s bag to the floor, “and you know it. What happened?”  
Manuel pulled a shirt off its hanger and slipped it on, doing up the buttons with more care than they probably deserved. “Nothing happened.”  
“Manuel.” Lukas’s voice was firm.  
Manuel finally turned and faced Lukas. He crossed over to his bed and climbed on top of the covers beside Lukas, letting Lukas swing an arm across his waist and curl up against his side.  
“He’s back with his ex,” Manuel confessed quietly, staring up at his ceiling.  
“He’s what?” Lukas asked incredulously. “He didn’t say anything about that when we spoke last night.”  
“Yeah, well,” Manuel shrugged. “Before we left he told me he was going to try to fix things with his ex.”  
“That doesn’t mean they got back together,” Lukas argued.  
“He bought condoms and lube, Lukas,” Manuel tilted his head to fix Lukas with a look.  
“Oh,” Lukas huffed. “That still doesn’t mean anything.”  
“Maybe,” Manuel agreed. “But it doesn’t matter. Because either way he wanted to fix things with his ex which means he’s probably still into them. Which means he’s not into me.”  
“Then he’s an idiot,” Lukas pulled Manuel closer. “Anyone who isn’t into you is dumb or a liar.”  
“Thanks, mate,” Manuel laughed, kissing the top of Lukas’s head.  
“You don’t have to come out with us tonight if you don’t want to,” Lukas offered.  
Manuel raised his eyebrows at Lukas.  
“Okay,” Lukas chuckled. “Philipp’ gonna make you come out with us no matter what. But I’ve got your back, alright? If you want to leave early or anything, just let me know and we can go.”  
“You’re the best, man,” Manuel told him. “Honestly. Don’t know what I would do without you.”  
“Die, probably,” Lukas planted a sloppy kiss on Manuel’s cheek. They heard the front door of the flat slam and Philipp and Bastian call out in greeting to Thomas. “You ready to go? Or do you want to hide out in here a little bit longer?”  
“It was a crush, Lukas, not a break up,” Manuel rolled his eyes, but he would be lying if he hadn’t thought about hiding in here for just a second. “There’s no reason to hide from him.”  
“If you say so,” Lukas pushed himself up and off Manuel’s bed, holding out a hand for Manuel to take, which he did.  
“Lukas! Manuel!” Thomas exclaimed when they walked out into the living room.  
“Thomas!” Lukas exclaimed right back, stepping forward into Thomas’s outstretched arms. “Did you have a nice holiday?”  
“It was alright, yeah,” Thomas answered. “Sorted some stuff out.”  
“That’s good,” Lukas responded but Manuel could hear the undercurrent in Lukas’s voice. It was the same undercurrent lacing its way through Manuel’s thoughts: Thomas had probably sorted some stuff out with his ex.  
Manuel stepped up next for his hug from Thomas, which he made as brief as possible. He outright refused to bury his face in Thomas’s neck and just breathe him in the way that his body wanted him to. He held himself back, but just barely. He was pathetic.  
“Right, then. We ready to go?” Bastian was rubbing his hands together like some kind of cartoon villain.  
“Let’s go!” Philipp cheered and they all grabbed their coats, except Thomas who still had his on, and headed out the door.  
“Did you have a nice visit at home?” Thomas asked, falling in step with Manuel.  
“It was good, yeah,” Manuel said. “Spent a lot of time with my parents, caught up with a few mates.”  
“That’s good!” Thomas smiled at him.  
“I guess I don’t need to ask how yours went,” Manuel commented and he wanted to punch himself in the face. He didn’t bitch or snipe, at least not when he was fully awake. He left that to Bastian and Philipp, who bitched and sniped like it was an Olympic sport.  
“Oh,” Thomas let out the word like he hadn’t meant to make a sound at all. “Okay then.”  
“Thomas, I-”  
“No. You know what, Manuel? It’s fine. Whatever it is, it’s fine, yeah?”  
“No, it’s not and-”  
“Philipp! Philipp, wait up!” Thomas jogged off to catch up with Philipp.  
“What the fuck was that?” Bastian demanded.  
“Nothing,” Manuel answered and his voice was sadder than he meant it to be. This was not how tonight was supposed to go at all. “It was nothing.”  
“It didn’t look like nothing,” Bastian pressed.  
“Let it go, Basti, I’ll tell you later,” Lukas cut in diplomatically.  
“You better will,” Bastian threatened. Lukas kissed him quickly as they arrived at the train station.  
“No, no kissing,” Manuel complained, a smile creeping onto his face. “It’s too soon for you to be kissing. I just got back.”  
“Lucky you,” Philipp called over his shoulder. “I got in just as Bastian came. Great welcome home present, that was.”  
“You weren’t due in for another hour!” Bastian protested. “We thought we had plenty of time.”  
“You knew I was home when you sucked Lukas off in the bathroom a few hours ago!” Philipp stopped walking so he could punch Bastian in the shoulder.  
“Lads, we’re in public,” Lukas scolded, but he had a smug look on his face.  
“And so are you when you’re getting off with Bastian, most of the time,” Philipp shot back, fixing his hair primly.  
Thomas remained quiet through most of their banter and Manuel felt a surge of guilt go through him. God, he could be such a twat. He would apologize to Thomas first chance he got.  
“Are you staying at ours tonight, Thomas?” Bastian asked as they boarded their train and headed for the city.  
Thomas’s eyes met Manuel’s for the briefest of seconds before he opened his mouth to answer.  
“Of course he is,” Manuel cut in. He could tell from the way Thomas’s shoulders had tensed that he had been about to say no. “Would be silly to send him home all alone and drunk at whatever godforsaken hour we leave the club.”  
Thomas pursed his lips, studying Manuel. Manuel held Thomas’s gaze, refusing to back down.  
“Yeah, I’ll stay over,” Thomas finally answered Bastian. “Wouldn’t want to wake my parents stumbling in at three in the morning or anything.”  
“Good, that’s settled then,” Bastian said and went back to biting at the hood of Lukas’s sweater.

\----

They nearly got kicked out of the restaurant, but it was fine because they were all already pleasantly buzzed and itching to leave anyways.

“Do you think we’ll meet any celebrities tonight?” Thomas asked as they made their way to the club a few blocks away from where they’d eaten.

“Maybe,” Bastian shrugged. “And if we do, we’re all going to stay cool, right? They’re just people like us.”

“No, babe,” Philipp peered over the bridge of his nose at Bastian. “They’re not. Because they don’t have to worry about the rent or university fees.”

Bastian rolled his eyes. “And tonight, neither do you. Let’s ring in the new year the right way, yeah?”

“What? Wasted and dancing?” Manuel asked, raising his eyebrows sceptically.

“The only way to do it,” Lukas told him and then Bastian was flashing their VIP passes to the bouncer at the door and they were in.

“Fuck, but it is crowded,” Thomas whistled, voice getting lost in the loud bass of whatever club remix the DJ was pumping through the speakers.

Lukas faltered in his step just a bit and Bastian instinctively reached out and took his hand. He grinned at Lukas and said, “I got you, babe. Not gonna leave your side all night, promise.”

Manuel pressed up against Lukas’s back quickly to tell him, “You have my back, I have yours. If you need to get away, I’ll go with you.”

“Fuck off, both of you,” Lukas told him, but his smile was fond. “I’ll be fine as soon as I’m too drunk to tell faces apart.”

By then Philipp and Thomas had already disappeared into the crowd. Manuel followed Lukas and Bastian as they made their way over to the bar. Philipp was already there.

“Did you order already?” Bastian demanded.

“Yes?” Philipp looked up at him quizzically.

“And did you pay yet?” Bastian wanted to know.

Philipp grinned at that. “Absolutely not. I’m still kind of the birthday boy. All drinks are on you. I swiped your card out of your wallet when you weren’t looking and told the bartender to open a tab up on it.”

“You’re such a bastard,” Bastian ruffled Philipp’ hair. Philipp glared at him.

“Get me drunk!” Lukas exclaimed from Bastian’s side. “I want to be drunk!”

“Where’s Thomas?” Manuel asked, looking around for him.

“Already dancing,” Philipp answered. “He’s pretty good, too.”

Manuel craned his neck to look around the crowded club. He could just spot Thomas, a bit taller than most of the crowd, in the middle of the dance floor. There were two girls dancing with him, flirty smiles on their faces as they laughed at something Thomas did that Manuel couldn’t see.

“Manuel?” Lukas’s voice came. “What do you want to drink, mate?”

The bartender was looking at him expectantly.

Manuel thought about the girls dancing with Thomas again and about how Thomas was also probably back together with his ex and about how Thomas was most definitely upset with him. “I want shots of whatever’s strongest. I want lots and lots of shots.”

\----

Manuel had had lots and lots of shots by the time Philipp made his way back over to the bar.

“Come on and dance,” Philipp wheedled, fringe sticking to his forehead. He flicks it out of the way impatiently. “You must be drunk enough by now.”

“I don’t want to dance with you,” Manuel pouted and yep, he was drunk. “I want to dance with Thomas.”

“So go dance with Thomas,” Philipp said simply, flagging down the bartender.

“Can’t,” Manuel hung his head like he was about to get scolded for not turning in his homework in primary school or something. “Thomas’s mad at me.”

“Why is Thomas mad at you?” Philipp’ voice is surprised.

“He hasn’t said anything?”

“Not to me.”

“Oh.”

There is a long moment of silence in which Philipp tried yet again to flag down the bartender. He got her attention, finally, and got a drink in his hand before he repeated to Manuel, “Why is Thomas mad at you?”

“Because he has a boyfriend and I got jealous and I snapped at him,” Manuel confessed.

“Thomas doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Philipp laughed.

“Girlfriend, then,” Manuel amended, heart sinking just a bit.

Philipp frowned at Manuel so Manuel frowned back. Philipp rolled his eyes and said, “Thomas is very much single, Manuel.”

“No,” Manuel argued, more stubborn in his drunkenness. “He’s not. He was going to fix things with his ex over the holidays. Get everything all sorted.”

“He did get everything all sorted,” Philipp told him. “But they’re not back together. They just left things in a really weird place and Thomas wanted to make sure that David knew it was really over between them. I guess David thought there might be something still between them or something and Thomas wanted to set the record straight.”

“If Thomas wanted things to be over between them, why did he buy lube and condoms before we left?” Manuel demanded.

“Oh my god,” Philipp gaped at him. “Is that what this is about? You think that he bought those so him and his ex could get back together and fuck under the Christmas tree or something?”

Manuel glared at Philipp.

“Manuel, fuck,” Philipp grabbed onto Manuel’s arm, careful not to spill the drink he was holding in his other hand. “Manuel, I put the condoms and lube in Thomas’s basket that day. I did it when he wasn’t looking.”

“What the fuck, Phips?”

Philipp had the decency to at least pretend to look sheepish. “I thought if I got you guys thinking about sex, you’d realize that you want to be having sex with each other.”

Manuel was dumbstruck. He was literally struck dumb. He had no idea how to even respond to that.

“Manuel?” Philipp questioned.

“So…” Manuel paused. He started again. “So, what you’re trying to tell me is that Thomas is not only single, but into dudes?”

“Yes on both counts.”

“Okay, yeah,” Manuel said, a little dazed. “Right, I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” Philipp called after him as Manuel walked towards the dance floor.

“To dance with Thomas,” Manuel yelled back over the music and then he turned his back on Philipp and set out to find Thomas among the bodies packed on the floor.

\----

He found Thomas pretty quickly, considering the amount of people he had to shimmy his way between. Thomas was still dancing with the two girls from earlier, though their flirty smiles were gone, replaced with regular ones.

“Mind if I cut in?” Manuel asked of them loudly as he came up to Thomas. He was just drunk enough that saying that felt more romantic than stupid.

Both of the girls shrugged and stepped back, leaving more room for Manuel in front of Thomas. Manuel slithered into the space, smiling up at Thomas cautiously. He reached out and put his hands on Thomas’s hips, starting to sway his own to the rhythm.

“What are you doing?” Thomas asked, placing his own hands on Manuel’s shoulders, hands coming to rest at the back of Manuel’s neck.

“Dancing with you,” Manuel answered simply.

“I thought you were mad at me.” Thomas’s voice was laced with hurt and Manuel wasn’t drunk enough that that didn’t hurt him too. “You didn’t talk to me while you were gone and then you came back and it felt like you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“You didn’t get back together with your ex,” Manuel blurted in lieu of actually answering Thomas.

“No?” Thomas tilted his head, confused. Manuel really wanted to kiss him.

“I thought you were getting back together with your ex,” Manuel admitted, leaning in closer so that Thomas could hear him over the music and yelling. “You bought condoms and stuff and I thought that meant you were trying to get back together with him.”

“I- I,” Thomas stammered just a little bit, going red even under the flashing lights. “This is going to sound so stupid, but I have no idea how that stuff got into my basket. Honest, Manuel.”

“I know,” Manuel told him. “It was Philipp! Philipp put them in your basket.”

Thomas rolled his eyes at that. “Of course he did.”

“I didn’t mean to ignore you!” Manuel said in a rush, alcohol making him very honest. “When I was gone, I mean. It’s just… I thought you were getting back with your ex and I didn’t really want to hear about that.”

“Why not?” Thomas smirked a bit and Manuel knew he was taking the piss but Manuel had had it. Manuel wanted to kiss Thomas and do a lot of other things to Thomas and with Thomas and if everything went south now, at least he could blame it on the alcohol tomorrow.

“Because I was jealous. I didn’t want to hear about you dating someone else or whatever, because I fancy you.” Manuel spat it all out in one breath and then held his next one, waiting for Thomas to answer.

“You fancy me?” Thomas grinned down at Manuel and they were only barely swaying to the music at this point.

“Very much, yes.” Manuel decided to stick with his honesty thing.

“Thank fuck,” Thomas exhaled and pulled Manuel into a kiss.

It took Manuel a second (he was going to blame that on the alcohol if ever questioned), but then he was kissing Thomas back, sucking Thomas’s bottom lip into his mouth eagerly. Thomas’s hands curled around the back of his neck, holding him in place as Thomas adjusted the angle of his own mouth. Their lips slotted together again and Manuel’s hands gripped tighter at Thomas’s hips.  
Thomas ran his tongue across the seam of Manuel’s mouth and Manuel opened for him quickly, his own tongue meeting with Thomas’s. Thomas hummed at him at that and pulled Manuel in so he was flush against Thomas’s body, making Thomas just a few inches taller and giving Thomas control of the kiss and okay. 

Okay, Manuel could totally work with that.

Manuel let Thomas explore his mouth, sucking on Thomas’s tongue, and letting his hands slip up the back of Thomas’s shirt. It was when Manuel took control of the kiss back and started fucking his tongue into Thomas’s mouth that Thomas finally pulled back.

“How drunk are you?” Thomas asked, breathing shallow.

“Not drunk enough to not know what I’m doing,” Manuel answered. He was already feeling more sober than he had all night. Probably because he was no longer sad on top of having done more shots than he cares to remember now.

“Good,” Thomas says, leaning in to capture Manuel’s mouth in another kiss. He pulled back and Manuel whined at him. Thomas just smiled. “Why don’t we get out of here? Go somewhere quieter, maybe? More private?”

“Yes, please,” Manuel said quickly. He laced his fingers with Thomas’s and tugged him through the crowd. Thomas pressed up against his back, guiding Manuel along as they pushed through the club to get to the exit. He pressed his lips up against the side of Manuel’s neck, biting small, sharp bites into the skin there.

“Shouldn’t we find one of the boys? Tell them we’re leaving?” Thomas asked, lips right up against Manuel’s ear so that he didn’t have to shout to be heard.  
Manuel glanced around and didn’t see any of the boys so he shrugged, still making his way towards the exit. “I’ll text them from the cab and let them know we’ve left.”

They finally managed to exit the club and Manuel managed to break away from Thomas long enough to hail a cab. Manuel rattled off the address of his flat and then turned his head to kiss Thomas.  
Manuel turned the kiss dirty, moaning loudly against Thomas’s mouth as Thomas’s hands found Manuel’s hips. It was so cramped in the back of the cab that Manuel nearly ended up on top of Thomas as they made out in the backseat.

“Jesus, Manuel,” Thomas broke away as Manuel’s hands reached for the flies on his jeans. “We’re five minutes away from your flat.”

“Been waiting for you for months,” Manuel gasped out, giving up on undoing Thomas’s jeans in favour of rubbing his hand against the bulge of Thomas’s cock through the fabric. “Don’t want to wait anymore.”

“We’re not getting off in the back of a taxi, Manuel,” Thomas said firmly, capturing both of Manuel’s wrists in one of his hands. “Did you text one of the boys yet to let them know we’ve left?”

“I don’t want to text one of the boys, I want to suck your dick," Manuel whined. He was always pushy when it came to sex. It had exasperated Philipp to no end back when they were sleeping together.

“Jesus,” Thomas muttered. He turned a hard stare on Manuel. Manuel would have called it a glare, but the arousal was coming through too strongly for Thomas to be actually glaring at him right now. “If I let go of you, can you promise to keep your hands to yourself for five seconds so I can text Philipp and let him know we went home?”

Manuel rolled his eyes and nodded. Thomas released his wrists, eying him warily as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked away from Manuel to write a text to Philipp, and Manuel made his move, sliding across the back seat of the taxi to press the side of his thigh up against the side of Thomas’s, letting one of his hands come to rest high on Thomas’s thigh.

“Manuel,” Thomas warned, not looking up from his mobile.

“Not my fault you’re so hot Thommy.” Manuel leaned in to breathe in Thomas’s ear, nipping gently at Thomas’s earlobe. “I wanna lick you all over.”

Thomas sent the text to Philipp and turned back to Manuel. “Right,” he said firmly and then put a hand to the back of Manuel’s neck and pulled him into a kiss.

“Mmm,” Manuel hummed against Thomas’s lips, pressing even closer to Thomas in the back of the cab. He could feel himself getting harder and Jesus how long was this cab ride?

The cab pulled to stop in front of Manuel’s flat just when Thomas’s hand reached the bulge in Manuel’s jeans and Manuel cursed their cab driver’s shit timing. Manuel tossed some notes at the cab driver and pulled Thomas out of the taxi behind him. He pulled Thomas up the steps to the front door of his flat, unlocking it a lot faster than he ever had even when he was sober. They scrambled up the stairs inside to the third floor, where the flat actually was. Manuel unlocked that just as quickly and they stumbled into the entryway. Thomas turned and pushed Manuel up against the door, kissing him fiercely.

“Fuck, Thomas,” Manuel groaned as Thomas kissed and nipped his way down Manuel’s neck.

“That’s the idea,” Thomas practically growled at Manuel, though he pulled back, a question in his eyes.

“Whatever you want,” Manuel told him hastily. “Anything you want, just please take off your shirt.”

Thomas chuckled, stepping away from Manuel and shrugging out of his jacket. 

“Come on.” He smirked at Manuel as he pulled up the hem of his shirt. “Bedroom.”

He turned his back on Manuel then, tugging his shirt over his head and dropping it on the couch in the living room area before walking into Manuel’s bedroom.  
Manuel hurried after him, stripping out of his own coat and shirt on the way. He nearly stopped breathing altogether when he reached his room. Thomas had spread himself out on Manuel’s bed, having ditched his jeans as well, and was palming himself through his boxers.

“Thomas,” Manuel breathed out, mouth going absolutely dry.

“You’re a little overdressed, love.” Thomas grinned at him, abs flexing as he increased the pressure of his own palm against his cock. “Take off your trousers and get over here.”

“You’re bossy,” Manuel narrowed his eyes at Thomas as he struggled to take off his jeans. He put everything he had into not falling over as he stepped out of them.

“Oh,” Thomas made an apologetic face. “I could not be?”

“No, it’s hot,” Manuel responded instantly.

“Oh,” Thomas’s face brightened a bit. “In that case… Come over here, yeah? I want to touch you.”

“You want to touch me?” Manuel laughed a bit as he made his way to the bed. “You’re so fucking fit, Müller, I’m pretty sure I’m never going to want to stop touching you.”

“Do you own a mirror?” Thomas shot back at him. “God, Manuel, your face.”

“Do you think I’m pretty?” Manuel teased as he climbed onto the bed and straddled Thomas’s hips.

“The prettiest,” Thomas reached up and stroked a hand along Manuel’s cheek. Manuel leaned into the touch, practically rubbing his face against Thomas’s hand.

“God, I can’t wait for you to be inside me,” Manuel murmured, eyes closed. Thomas stilled underneath him and Manuel let the smirk grow on his face without opening his eyes. “How do you want me then? On my back? On all fours? Do you want me to ride you, Thommy?”

“Fuck,” Thomas said emphatically, bucking his hips up so that the bulge in his boxers rubbed up against Manuel’s.

Manuel hissed at the contact, the friction even with the material between their cocks so, so good. “Again,” he demanded of Thomas, who happily obliged, bringing his hips up to meet Manuel’s again and again.

Manuel ground down against Thomas, head still swimming from the alcohol at the club.

“I’m going to come,” Manuel admitted, almost sheepishly to Thomas. “It’s the alcohol, I promise. I can usually go much longer than this.”

Thomas just smiled up at him. “Go on then, come for me.”

“Want you to come with me,” Manuel whined, frowning down at Thomas.

“I’ll be fine, love,” Thomas assured him with a laugh.

Manuel bent over to crush his lips to Thomas’s again, Thomas’s tongue darting quickly into his mouth as they rolled their hips against each other in a slip-sliding rhythm that kept building. The kissing turned into a sharing of air as Manuel pulled away to pant, the closer he got to his orgasm.

“Come on, baby,” Thomas encouraged, ghosting one hand over Manuel’s erection and that was it. Manuel came in his pants just from rutting against Thomas.

“Your turn, come on,” Manuel said, even as his eyelids drooped and he fought to stay balanced on top of Thomas.

Thomas laughed, though it was pitched a bit higher than usual. “Lie down, Manuel, you’re falling asleep.”

“No,” Manuel protested. “I just need to close my eyes for a few seconds and then I’m gonna take care of you, okay?”

“Okay,” Thomas agreed, but Manuel could tell from his tone that Thomas was just humouring him.

“I mean it,” Manuel let his eyes fall shut, frowning in Thomas’s general direction. “Gonna make you come so hard, baby.”

Manuel didn’t hear Thomas’s response as he had already fallen to sleep.

\----

Manuel woke up to a pounding headache and a heavy weight across his chest. He looked around, early morning sunlight streaming into his room. It was way too goddamn early to be awake. But then Manuel turned and there he was, Thomas, curled against Manuel's side, arm across Manuel's chest. It was quite possibly the most beautiful thing Manuel had ever seen.   
Manuel sat up just a bit, leaning up on his elbows. He bit back a groan as the pounding in his head went crazy. Thomas's arm slid from his chest down to around his waist. Thomas murmured softly in his sleep and pulled Manuel closer to him. Manuel rolled his eyes but couldn't stop smiling. He turned to try and find a clock, and found a glass of water with two paracetamols. Last night suddenly came flashing back to him. He remembered dancing with Thomas, kissing Thomas (oh God kissing Thomas), getting off with Thomas... Wait, no. Manuel had gotten off but then...  
Jesus fucking Christ eating homemade pasta. Manuel had fallen asleep before getting Thomas off. All that and he hadn't even gotten to touch Thomas's dick. He was the world's biggest idiot. Thomas snuffled in his sleep, curling even closer to Manuel, something Manuel hadn't really thought possible with how close they already were. Thomas's new position had his morning wood pressed up against Manuel's hip.  
Manuel tilted his hip just a bit and Thomas canted his hips into it, brow furrowing even in his sleep. Well, that Manuel could work with. He reached over and popped the paracetamols in his mouth, gulping down some water. He gently pried Thomas's arm off his stomach, pushing it so that Thomas rolled over onto his back. Thomas grumbled lightly in his sleep, but settled in on his back, breathing a little raspier now. Manuel smiled to himself as he carefully lifted himself over Thomas's body.  
He placed a kiss to Thomas's nose, then a quick peck to Thomas's lips. His chin, a few along his jaw and neck. Manuel kissed his way down Thomas's torso, Thomas's abs clenching as Manuel's breath ghosted over them. Manuel mouthed at the skin above Thomas's pants, letting his tongue slip out to glide along the skin over Thomas's hips. Thomas whispered out a moan and shifted into Manuel's touch, clearly seeking out some friction for his hardening cock.

"Thommy," Manuel said, voice soothing but loud enough that Thomas started to stir. "Wake up, Thomas, come on."  
Thomas grunted and his eyes stayed firmly shut. Manuel used his teeth to nip at Thomas's stomach. "Wake up, Thomas, come on. I want to suck you off."

Thomas's eyes blinked open slowly. Manuel watched, biting his lip to keep his grin in check, as Thomas looked around sleepily, clearly trying to figure out where he was. Thomas's eyes eventually met Manuel's and Thomas frowned just a bit. "Manuel?"

"Morning, babe," Manuel smirked at him. "I'm gonna suck you off now, if that's alright?"

"What?" Thomas's voice was heavy with sleep.

"I'm going to put your dick in my mouth," Manuel told him. "If that's something you're okay with."

Thomas came awake surprisingly quickly at that. "Yeah, that's... Yeah, Manuel."

"Make up for me being a twat and falling asleep on you last night, yeah?"

"No!" Thomas protested, leaning up on his elbows sharply. "You don't like, owe me or anything. Last night was just..."

Manuel surged up to cut Thomas off with a kiss. Manuel knew his breath must be kind of awful, but Thomas didn't complain. Manuel pulled away. "Last night was just what?"

"It was good," Thomas assured him as Manuel raised an eyebrow. "It was more than good. But you were drunk and I don't want you to suck me off if you don't want to."

Manuel leaned down to press their foreheads together. "God, Thomas, of course I want to. I've wanted to for months."

"Oh," Thomas said then. "Well. I guess that's alright then."

"Just alright?" Manuel teased.

"Good," Thomas amended quickly as Manuel winked at him and slithered back down Thomas's body to position his mouth over Thomas's cock, which was straining against his pants. "Very, very good. I was..." Thomas cut himself off, pressing his lips together firmly.

"You were what?" Manuel asked, distracted as he pressed open mouthed kisses against Thomas's clothed dick. Jesus, this was going to be good.

"I was afraid you wouldn't want me when you were sober," Thomas confessed, voice small.

Manuel pulled away from Thomas's cock at the words and Thomas made a tiny noise of protest. "Thomas, no. Fuck no. I want you when I'm sober and when I'm drunk. I want to rip your clothes off and have my way with you every time you come into the store. I daydream about sucking your dick in class, Thomas. Trust me when I say that I want this. Very much."

"Okay," Thomas smiled down at him. "And just so you know? The wanting is very much mutual."

"Good," Manuel said. "Now, if we're done talking about our feelings, I'd really like to get your pants off."

"We're done talking," Thomas said quickly, hands coming down to help Manuel tug off his pants.

"You're clean, yeah?" Manuel asked, hovering just over Thomas's cock.

"Yeah, yes," Thomas spat out. "I got tested after Dave and I broke up and I haven't been with anyone since."

Manuel nodded before taking Thomas into his mouth, making sure to run his tongue over his lips a few times to smooth the way a bit. He took just the head into his mouth, circling his tongue around it and pulling a gasp out of Thomas. Manuel tongued at the slit as he slid a bit further down Thomas's dick, one hand coming up to grasp the base of Thomas's cock as the other hand found purchase on Thomas's thigh.

"Manuel," Thomas's voice warned. "Don't tease."

Manuel hollowed his cheeks and sucked as he slid back up Thomas's cock to pull off completely.

"You're a bastard," Thomas told him as Manuel chuckled and licked up the vein on the underside of Thomas's cock. He licked at the base until it was wet enough that he could pump Thomas's cock through his fist with no problem. Then he took Thomas back in his mouth.

"Jesus," Thomas let out on a sigh and Manuel hummed in agreement, the vibration making Thomas arch up off the bed.

Manuel works the crown of Thomas’s cock, tonguing at the slit, making Thomas hiss. He tightens his lips around the head, sucking while swirling his tongue around the tip. Thomas arches up off the bed again and Manuel can tell that he’s trying to keep himself from bucking his hips up into Manuel’s mouth.

Manuel pulled off quickly then to gasp out, “Yes, that. Do that, Thomas. Fuck my mouth. C’mon. Know you want to. Want you to.”

“Fuck,” Thomas groaned out, hands coming down to tangle in Manuel’s hair. He tugged at the strands and Manuel keened high and in the back of his throat.   
Thomas just smirked at him. “You really gonna let me fuck your mouth?”

“I’m going to let you do whatever you want to me,” Manuel answered honestly.   
“But we can start with that, yeah.”

“How about you stop talking now?” Thomas pulled his hands out of Manuel’s hair to brace himself up on his elbows. “Or I’m going to end up finishing before you even get my cock back in your mouth.”

“That wouldn’t be all bad,” Manuel mused even as he repositioned himself over Thomas’s dick. “You could always come on my face. That could be hot.”

Thomas groaned, hips bucking up so that his dick rubbed against Manuel’s chin.   
“Please, please stop talking now.”

Manuel just grinned and returned to using his mouth on Thomas’s cock, swallowing when Thomas finally came down his throat.

“Come here,” Thomas commanded, pulling at Manuel’s shoulders even as his body shook through the last rolls of orgasm. “Manuel, come on…”

Manuel let Thomas pull him up and crush their lips together. Manuel moaned as Thomas licked the taste of himself out of Manuel’s mouth.

“Wanna see you get yourself off,” Thomas muttered against Manuel’s lips.

“Yeah.” Manuel gasped. “Yes, yeah. Thomas.”

Thomas rolled, flipping them over so Manuel was lying on his back beneath Thomas. “Come on, baby, come for me.” Thomas grabbed Manuel’s wrist, bringing 

Manuel’s hand up to his mouth and licking at Manuel’s palm until it was wet. He pushed Manuel’s hand back down his body, closing it around Manuel’s dick.  
Manuel groaned at the feeling and started stroking himself, panting loudly as Thomas sucked kisses into his neck and tweaked one of his nipples. Manuel stroked himself faster when Thomas pulled back to sit across Manuel’s thighs and just watch.

“There you go, sweetheart. Just like that, yeah? Does it feel good?” Thomas nearly purred at Manuel.

“Fuck, yes,” Manuel hissed. “So good, Thomas.”

“Want you to come, darling. Can you come for me?”

“Yes, yes, yes…” Manuel’s voice had never sounded so broken, he was sure. Fuck, Thomas was going to ruin him.

Thomas tanged his hand with Manuel’s on Manuel’s cock then, helping him to jerk himself off. Manuel panted as Thomas squeezed their hands at the top of Manuel’s cock and then Manuel was coming.

“There we go, baby,” Thomas leaned down to kiss Manuel on the forehead. “God, that was hot.”

Manuel could barely breathe as he came down, but he nodded frantically in agreement with Thomas.

Thomas kissed Manuel’s face over and over again, until Manuel laughed and started kissing him back, mouth open and sloppy. Finally, Thomas placed a kiss on the tip of Manuel’s nose and pulled away, grabbing tissue off of Manuel’s nightstand and cleaning them both up. “I’m gonna go for a run, yeah? And when I come back maybe we could take a shower together?”

“Sounds good to me,” Manuel said. “I’m sure Philipp has some shorts or something you could borrow. Or there are jogging bottoms in the middle drawer of my dresser.”

“Cool.” Thomas pushed himself out of the bed. Manuel watched appreciatively as Thomas stretched and dug through Manuel’s drawers, emerging with a t-shirt that was going to be way to tight on him and jogging bottoms. Thomas came back over to the bed and kissed Manuel chastely. “I’ll be back, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Manuel sighed falling back against the pillows.

"Don't go back to sleep," Thomas intoned from the doorway.

"I'll do as I please," Manuel said, already burying his face into the pillow Thomas had been using. It still smelled mostly like Manuel, but there was a trace of Thomas now. Manuel tried not to think about the metaphor that was probably hidden in that.

Thomas huffed and left the room, mumbling something about "middle of the morning" and "lazy git" under his breath.

Not even a minute later, Bastian was sprawled out on top of Manuel while Lukas sang at the top of his lungs in the doorway.

"What the fuck?" Manuel shoved Bastian off him so he could sit up and glare at them properly.

"Thomas told us to make sure you were up," Bastian explained and, Jesus Christ, Manuel lived with a bunch of traitors. "Besides, it's the first day of the new year. You don't want to spend the first day of the new year in bed, do you?"

Manuel gave Bastian an incredulous look. "Have you even met me? That sounds exactly like how I want to spend the first day of the new year. That sounds like how I want to spend every day of this year, actually."

Bastian pouted at him. From the doorway, Lukas started glaring, as he always did when someone made Bastian unhappy.

"Fine," Manuel said as he rolled his eyes. "I'll get up. Where's Phips?"

"Oh, he's still asleep." Bastian shrugged as he rolled off of Manuel's bed. "We figured we'd let him sleep in."

"I thought we didn't play favourites in this flat," Manuel sarcastically quoted one of Bastian's most loved things to say. Coincidentally, Bastian really only seemed to say it when Philipp was paying too much attention to someone or something that wasn't Bastian.

Lukas laughed. "He deserves to sleep in after last night."

"Why? What happened?" Manuel asked as he held out a hand, eyes pleading for Bastian to get him some pants and a jumper.

"You happened, you arsehole," Lukas told him. "Oh god, poor Thomas. We came in about an hour after you guys left the club and Phips knocked on your door just to make sure you guys had actually made it back to the flat and weren't dead in a ditch somewhere. Thomas told him to come in and he walked in on you asleep on Thomas's chest, come drying in your pants. Because you'd fallen asleep during sex."

Bastian and Lukas both burst out laughing and Manuel just sat there, frozen in the middle of pulling the jumper Bastian had gotten for him over his head.

At the look on Manuel's face, Lukas's laughter subsided a bit. "Don't worry about it, mate. Happens to Bastian all the time."

"Heyyyy," Bastian whined in response, but Manuel noticed that he didn't try to deny it.

"Philipp is gonna be fucking insufferable about this," Manuel said finally.

"I'm quite looking forward to it, actually." Bastian grinned at Manuel and Manuel knew he was only half kidding. "You should let him have a little bit of fun at least seeing as he was the one who changed your pants for you. Thomas went all red and refused to even look. It was proper cute."

"Fuck off," Manuel said. He was tempted to pull the covers back over his head and go back to sleep anyways, but he was too awake now. "Is there breakfast?"

"Yeah, come on." Lukas wrapped an arm around Bastian's waist and nodded towards the kitchen. "Basti made a full English and everything."

Manuel scrambled out of bed and followed them across the flat, mortification momentarily forgotten in the face of a good breakfast.

\----

"I hope you made it up to him this morning," were Philipp's first words to Manuel that afternoon when he finally woke up and came out into the living room.

"Oh, he more than did," Thomas answered for Manuel from the kitchen where he was making tea with Bastian.

"He made it up to him again in the shower, if the sounds were anything to go by." Lukas cackled from where he was sprawled out along the couch.

Manuel ignored them all, pretending to be engrossed by the show on the television.

"How are you going to make it up to me then?" Philipp asked as he plopped himself on top of Lukas on the couch.

"I'm not," Manuel told him. "Consider it you paying me back for that party during our sophomore year with that blonde girl. Yeah, I thought so." Manuel added when Philipp' eyes went wide at just the mention of that girl who had misread Philipp' one night thing with her as a marriage proposal. They hadn't even slept together, just made out in a corner and chatted for a while.

"Fair enough," said Philipp. He turned to Lukas after that, demanding the channel on the television be changed.

Thomas and Bastian came into the room, balancing cups of tea. Thomas handed Philipp his, the came over to where Manuel was seated in his chair, handing Manuel a cup and plopping himself down on Manuel’s lap.

“You’re smaller, you’re supposed to go on the bottom,” Manuel whined.

“Pretty sure that’s the other way around, mate,” Lukas snickered as Bastian handed him his tea and sat on the floor beside where Lukas’s head was lying on the sofa.

“Not that it has to be.” Bastian put in hastily. “It’s different for everyone. Just do it however you’re comfortable.”

“It‘s how it worked with us,” Philipp commented primly, shooting Manuel a smug smile, which Manuel answered with a glare. Philipp sniffed at his tea and raised his eyebrows. “Who made my tea?”

“I did,” Bastian answered. Philipp beamed at that and sipped at his tea happily.

“I feel like it should be weirder than it is, hearing you talk about my boyfriend like that,” Thomas said thoughtfully as he sipped his own tea.

“Boyfriend?” Manuel asked, tensing up beneath Thomas.

“Shit!” Thomas twisted around so he could face Manuel, careful not to spill his tea all over the place. “Oh god, Manuel. I meant to have this discussion in private.”

“Boyfriend?” Manuel asked again, and he could barely fight to keep the grin off of his face. He liked seeing Thomas squirm though, so he put in a valiant effort.

“Our little Manulein is all grown up!” Philipp cooed from the couch.

Lukas laughed because of course he did and Bastian added, “Should we ring Manuel’s mum? Let her know to start planning the wedding?”

“Fuck off,” Manuel snapped at his flatmates. He was moving out, he was. Maybe the university had an extra dorm room he could crash in for the next three terms.

“I mean it, Manuel,” Thomas said, ignoring Philipp and Bastian in favour of studying Manuel’s face intently. “I was going to take you out to dinner and do it all proper, I promise I was. It kind of just slipped out, but would you? Like to be my boyfriend, I mean?”

“Of course I would,” Manuel answered, setting his mug down on the small table that was set up beside his chair. He took Thomas’s mug and set it down next to his. “Of course I want to be your boyfriend.”

Thomas’s smile overtook his whole face and he surged forward, bringing his hands up to cup Manuel’s face as he kissed him thoroughly. Manuel could absolutely get used to this. Thomas flicked his tongue against the roof of Manuel’s mouth and Manuel moaned.

“Take it back to Manuel’s bedroom please,” Lukas groaned from the couch. 

“Wouldn’t want you to get Manuel’s chair dirty. We all know how fond of it he is.”  
Thomas pulled back and Manuel pouted up at him.

“Later.” Thomas promised, laughing. “I still want to take you out properly and everything.”

“Can’t we skip all that and I’ll just suck your dick again?” Manuel didn’t even try to keep his voice down. Bastian and Lukas could consider it payback and Philipp was just collateral damage.

“Stop!” Philipp covered one of his ears with the hand that wasn’t holding his tea. 

“Stop right now! Lukas and Bastian are bad enough, don’t you fucking start, Neuer.”

Manuel just grinned at Philipp who glared and sipped his tea.

\----

Being Thomas’s boyfriend was a lot like being Thomas’s friend, except that now whenever he got the urge to lick Thomas, he could. And he did.

"You're disgusting," Thomas told Manuel, pushing him away from where he was trying to lick Thomas's cheek.

"No," Manuel protested, "I'm horny and I want you."

"Jesus, Manuel." Thomas gaped at Manuel while winding his scarf around his neck. "I have class."

"Skip it," Manuel said, sliding one of his thighs between Thomas's. "Come back to bed with me."

"I can't," Thomas groaned, sounding very much like he wanted to. "It's the first class of the new term."

"So? Drop out."

Thomas laughed, buttoning up his coat. "And do what? Lie around your flat all day without clothes on in case you get the urge?"

"Yes," Manuel said. "That sounds perfect. But if you're not going to wear clothes, you have to stay in my bedroom."

"Why? Because of everyone in this flat's inability to go without touching each other for more than two minutes?"

"Don't pretend like you're not just as bad now," Manuel scoffed at his boyfriend. "And yes, but I'm talking more about Bastian's obsession with your dick."

"He does touch it quite a bit," Thomas said thoughtfully. "Though he's usually causing more pain than pleasure. It is kind of hot though."

"I think I liked you better when you thought how much we touched each other was weird."

"You like me just fine now." Thomas didn't hesitate to tell Manuel. "Now give me a kiss so I can go."

Manuel reached out and grabbed Thomas's scarf, using it to pull him into a deep kiss. Manuel curled his tongue into Thomas's mouth, turning the kiss dirty.  
Thomas pulled away, the look on his face letting Manuel know that Thomas was onto him and what he was trying to do. "Goodbye, Manuel."

"Are you coming to the shop after class?"

Thomas shook his head. "I have a shift at the aquarium and then another class. And I promised Mum I would come over for dinner. She says she's glad I've found such good friends, but that I technically still live with her and she'd like to see me."

Thomas had basically been living in the flat with Manuel, Philipp, Lukas, and Bastian since the new year. He had to go home every few days to pick up clothes or a DVD he wanted (usually when Manuel and the boys went into work), but he'd spent almost every night at the flat in Manuel's bed (and Philipp' bed one night, oddly enough, though all they did was talk). It had been nice. It was still nice. Thomas fit into life at the flat the same way he fit into the rest of their lives: seamlessly.

"Tell your mum I said hello, then," Manuel said. "And to give you back soon."

Thomas chuckled, pressed a chaste kiss to Manuel's lips, and left, promising to pass along Manuel's message.

Manuel headed into the kitchen with every intention of making himself a cup of tea and going back to bed until he had to be up in a few hours for his own class.

“I thought you didn’t have class until one today?” Philipp asked when he came into the kitchen a few minutes later, just as the kettle started to whistle. Philipp grinned at Manuel and Manuel rolled his eyes but reached to get Philipp’s favourite mug out of the cabinet and put it beside his own. He poured them both tea, putting sugar in his and ignoring the look he got from Philipp for his actions.

“Thomas had class this morning,” Manuel answered as he set their mugs down on the table. They both sat.

“So you got up early to say goodbye? You’re so cute, Manulein.”

“Fuck off, Phips.”

“It’s nice to see you so happy. And Thomas, too.” Philipp’ voice was warm and sincere.

Manuel just smiled, sipping his tea to hide the softness of it.

“Is he a better lay than me?” Philipp leaned across the table to demand, eyebrows disappearing under his fringe.

The truth was, Manuel and Thomas hadn’t had sex yet. They’d done almost everything but, but they hadn’t really had sex yet. Philipp didn’t know that though.

“I’m not answering that.” Manuel laughed, picking up his mug and heading for his room. He wanted to climb back into bed while it was still warm from him and Thomas.

“You shit!” Philipp called after him. “How very dare you.”

“Goodnight, Phips,” Manuel said from his bedroom doorway. “Have a good class, I’ll see you at work.”

“I’m not speaking to you,” Philipp told him. “And Bastian’s tea is better than yours.”

Manuel just shut his door in response, leaving his tea to grow cold on the nightstand as he burrowed into his bed and went back to sleep.

\----

Manuel: bored  
Thomas: I’m on the train now be there soon  
Manuel: don’t want to wait, want you now  
Thomas: oh yeah? ;)   
Manuel: yes  
Manuel: been thinking about you all day  
Thomas: what were you thinking about?  
Manuel: you spread out on my bed  
Thomas: yeah  
Manuel: touching yourself while I get undressed, like that first night, remember?  
Thomas: I remember  
Thomas: surprized you do though  
Manuel: remember everything with you  
Thomas: so what happens now that you’re naked?  
Manuel: what do you want?  
Manuel: because I still want to ride you  
Thomas: jesus Manuel  
Manuel: yeah you’d make me get myself ready for you  
Thomas: yes fuck yes  
Thomas: I’d have you start off nice and slow, know how you like that  
Manuel: yeah. what next?  
Thomas: let you start speeding up  
Thomas: tell you to use two fingers  
Manuel: fuck yes, I’d be so desperate for it. for you.  
Thomas: you always are it’s really hot  
Manuel: shit hang on  
Thomas: are you touching yourself? are you getting yourself ready for me?  
Manuel: want you to fuck me so bad  
Thomas: i can do that  
Manuel: gonna open myself up for you and let you fuck me until I can’t walk  
Thomas: babe  
Thomas: I’m getting off the train now think you can wait for me  
Manuel: want you to leave bruises and marks  
Manuel: want everyone to know I’m yours  
Manuel: gonna come just thinking about your fingers wrapped around my wrists, holding me down  
Thomas: fuck Manuel I’m still like 10 mins away don’t you dare  
Manuel: I’ll make it up to you later ;)

\----

Manuel was sitting on the couch with Lukas when Thomas stormed into the flat.

“Get up.” Thomas nearly growled at Manuel.

Manuel smirked, still basking in his post-orgasmic bliss. The orgasm would have been better with Thomas, but Manuel couldn’t wait. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d spent most of the day thinking about Thomas spread out in his bed. Or holding himself over Manuel. Or fucking Manuel against a wall. They’d been together for almost three months now and they still hadn’t fucked properly. 

Manuel was getting impatient. “I’m quite comfortable here.”

Thomas just nodded sharply before crossing the living room and entering Manuel’s bedroom.

“Someone’s in trouble.” Lukas sing-songed at Manuel.

“God, I hope so,” Manuel said, springing up off the couch to follow Thomas. Manuel found Thomas stripping out of his jacket and jumper. Manuel closed the door to his bedroom as Thomas pulled his shirt off.

“I’m mad at you,” Thomas told him. “Go lie facedown on the bed.”

Manuel obeyed without hesitation, butterflies and arousal both stirring in his stomach. Thomas came over to the bed wearing only his boxers. He climbed on the bed, straddling Manuel’s thighs, the bulge of his cock grinding down against Manuel’s ass as Thomas leaned forward to punctuate each of his words with a kiss to Manuel’s spine. “You’re. So. Impatient.”

Whining, Manuel pushed back against Thomas’s cock, but he couldn’t get much leverage with the way that Thomas had him pinned.

“I could have made it so good for you, angel,” Thomas said into Manuel’s skin and Manuel grew hotter. He thought that the more time he and Thomas spent together, the less it would feel like he was burning up from the inside out every time they touched. Manuel had never been so wrong in his life. “I could have made it so, so good for you. But you went ahead without me.”

“Thomas,” Manuel groaned.

Thomas kissed his way down the rest of Manuel’s spine, lifting off to strip Manuel of the jogging bottoms he had pulled on earlier when he went to go join Lukas on the couch, leaving Manuel naked. Thomas moaned as he positioned himself on his knees in between Manuel’s thighs, nose pressed just beneath Manuel’s ear. “God, you still smell like sex.”

"Came so hard," Manuel admitted breathlessly. "Thinking about you fucking me."

"I'm sure you did." Thomas sounded almost placating which meant that Manuel was not going to like whatever came out of Thomas's mouth next. "But you went ahead without me so now you'll have to wait a little longer to be properly fucked."

"Thomas..."

"Ten minutes, Manuel. I was ten minutes away."

"Not fair," Manuel whined as Thomas pulled away from where he was pressed along Manuel's back.

"Maybe next time." Thomas breathed into the dimples at the bottom of Manuel's spine. "This time, I'm going to make you wish that you had waited those ten minutes."

"I already do," Manuel grumbled into the pillow his head was resting on. A second later, he was arching up off the bed as Thomas's tongue flicked at his hole.   
"Thomas, fuck."

"Nope, not today." Thomas's voice was smug.

“You’re not funny.” Manuel’s voice went breathy over Thomas’s name as Thomas pressed up against Manuel’s hole with his tongue again.

Thomas didn’t respond to that, too busy licking over Manuel’s hole, tongue pressed flat. Manuel was pretty sure he was going to die. He clenched and unclenched his hands in the sheets, hips shifting to grind back against Thomas’s tongue.

“Come on, Thomas,” Manuel whined. “Harder.”

Manuel thought Thomas would ignore him, that Thomas would drag this out. But, Jesus Christ, was he wrong. At his pleading, Thomas used his hands to spread Manuel’s ass, giving him better access. Thomas tongued at Manuel’s hole, pushing just the tip of it past the rim and Manuel was going to die. He absolutely was going to die. He worked his hips, trying to push back onto Thomas’s face and get friction for his cock against the sheets at the same time.  
Thomas pulled away again and Manuel panted into the pillow, turned his head sharply to look over his shoulder at Thomas.

“Hi, love.” Thomas smiled at Manuel while stroking himself. Manuel wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss him or punch him more in this moment. “Wanna do something for me, baby?”

“If it gets your mouth back on me, yes,” Manuel hissed.

Thomas just grinned and pushed at one of Manuel’s legs, hitching it higher on the bed. “Hold your leg for me so you’re nice and open, alright, darling?”

Manuel did as Thomas said, hooking his knee over his forearm, spreading himself wide for Thomas, who pressed the tip of his tongue back into Manuel almost immediately. Manuel let out a long breathy moan, not even caring that Lukas could probably hear him from the living room.  
Thomas pulled out a few moments later, just when Manuel was on the urge of coming. Manuel really wanted to know what he had done in a past life to deserve a boyfriend who did this to him in this one. Thomas shifted, adjusting himself so that his cock was pressed into the cleft of Manuel’s ass and he started thrusting.

“Thomas, shit, Thomas,” Manuel gasped. “Thommy.”

“Love it when you say my name like that,” Thomas admitted as he panted into the nape of Manuel’s neck. “Love it when you say my name when you come. You gonna come for me now, baby?”

“You first,” Manuel grunted out, even as Thomas’s weight across his thighs and arse pressed his cock against the sheets in the most delicious way.

“But you were so eager to get off before,” Thomas taunted, thrusting roughly and letting out a sharp exhale.

“Want you…” Manuel gritted his teeth, trying to stave off his orgasm. “Want you to come first.”

Thomas huffed and his hand came up to cover the hand of Manuel’s that wasn’t still holding himself open. Manuel spread his fingers so that Thomas’s fell between them, as close to laced together as they could get in this position.

“Gonna come all over you, sweetheart,” Thomas promised, voice low in Manuel’s ear. “Sound good?”

Manuel couldn’t do anything except swallow and nod. He could barely think, Thomas felt so good, pressing up against his body. He felt Thomas’s cock catch on his rim for just a second as he rolled his hips and Manuel keened, high in his throat as Thomas came, spilling across the top of Manuel’s arse and his lower back. Without even taking a breath, Thomas moved again, placing himself between Manuel’s thighs again, reaching forward to pull Manuel up and set him across his thighs, Manuel’s back to Thomas’s chest. Thomas’s hand circled Manuel’s cock and Thomas jerked him off quickly.

Manuel slumped back against Thomas, his head lolling onto Thomas’s shoulder. “I can’t wait for you to fuck me.”

Thomas laughed and reached for a corner of the sheet so he could clean them up.

\----

It happened on a Friday evening. 

Manuel was leaning back against Thomas’s chest as they reclined on the couch, watching a movie. Philipp was in the kitchen making more popcorn and Lukas was in his room, finishing up a paper he had due the next week. The flat was as peaceful as it ever got when more than one of them was awake at a time when Bastian came storming in.

“Where is he?” Bastian demanded of Thomas and Manuel as he ripped off his scarf and toed off his boots, letting his bookbag drop to the floor with a loud clunk. Manuel hoped Bastian’s laptop hadn’t been in that bag. “Where’s Lukas?”

“I’m right here, babe, what’s up?” Lukas came out of his room, smiling the way he always did when Bastian came home. His smile dropped just a bit, however, when he saw the way Bastian’s jaw was set.

“I had an interesting talk with Miroslav today,” Bastian spat at Lukas as he tugged his coat off, letting it join his bag on the floor.

Lukas visibly paled at that and Manuel sat up as the tension in the room skyrocketed. Philipp poked his head out of the kitchen, no witty remark forthcoming as he saw how angry Bastian was.

“Basti…”  
“Were you even going to tell me?!” Bastian yelled. “Fuck, Lukas. Were you even going to tell me?”

“Of course I was!” Lukas exclaimed. “I was just waiting for the right time.”

“Don’t give me that,” Bastian said, tears springing to his eyes. “Don’t lie to me. Were you going to tell me? Or were you just going to let me believe that they passed you over?”

Lukas hesitated for a second then swallowed and said, “I didn’t know if I wanted to tell you.”

“I’m your boyfriend.” Bastian’s voice sounded unbelievably hurt and it took everything Manuel not to leap up off the couch and pull him into a cuddle. If it had been anyone but Lukas making Bastian sound like this, Manuel would have punched him in the face already. “You’re supposed to want to tell me everything.”

“I do!” Lukas sounded desperate and Manuel realized his feelings went the other way as well. “I just already knew what you would say and I… Fuck, Basti, I didn’t want to hear you tell me to go.”

“You should go! It’s an amazing opportunity. Why are you just letting this go? You might never get another chance like this.”

“I can’t leave you, okay?!” Lukas’s voice was fierce now, loud and sure. “I’m not leaving you.”

“So I’m the reason you’re not going?”

“You’re part of the reason I’m not going, yeah.”

Bastian squared his shoulders, the set of his jaw determined even as tears streamed down his face. “Well, you can take me out of the equation.”

“Bastian…”

“No! That’s it, Lukas. If you can make choices without me, then I can make choices without you. And I’m choosing to break up with you.”

"You don't mean that." Lukas's voice shook as he pleaded with Bastian. "You can't mean that."

"Well I do," Bastian spat at Lukas and Manuel hadn't even known Bastian could sound this cruel. "And at least I have the decency to tell you about it."

Bastian had apparently said everything he had to say because with that he stalked off into Philipp’ room, slamming the door behind him.

“Phips…” Lukas turned to Philipp with pleading eyes. “Philipp, please.”

“I got him, I got him,” Philipp said, pausing to kiss Lukas on the forehead briefly. “It’ll be okay.” Philipp disappeared into his room after Bastian. Manuel could hear Bastian crying when Philipp opened the door just enough to slip in.

Lukas walked over and slid down the wall in front of Philipp’ door, holding his head in his hands.

“I think I’ll make some tea,” Thomas said, nudging Manuel towards Lukas.

“Thanks.” Manuel leaned over and gave Thomas a quick kiss before going over to sit on the floor beside Lukas. “Want to tell me what all that was about?” Manuel asked gently after a minute.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Lukas said, looking up at Manuel. His eyes were watery and God, Manuel had never wanted to see Lukas upset like this.

“Didn’t think what was a big deal?”

“You know that internship in Los Angeles? The one my professor insisted I apply to?” Lukas wouldn’t meet Manuel’s eyes, playing with his own hands. “Well, I got it. I got the letter about a month ago saying that they wanted me to come to LA and intern in sound design at Real Time Records.”

“Lukas!” Manuel’s smile filled out his whole face. “That’s amazing!”

“I mean, yeah.” Lukas shrugged. “But I turned it down. And then didn't tell Bastian."

“Why?”

Lukas sighed heavily, breath catching and Manuel was sure he was going to start crying. But Lukas took a minute, pulled himself together, and said, “I don’t want to go to LA. It was bad enough having to leave Poland and leave my family behind. I’m not leaving another family behind and I’m certainly not leaving Bastian behind. I knew that if I told him, he'd tell me to go. But I didn't want to go and I didn't want him to think it was because of him. He'd never forgive himself if he thought he was the reason I didn't go to LA. Things didn't really go according to plan, as you can tell."

“It’s a great opportunity, Lukas,” Manuel whispered.

“I know it is,” Lukas said. “Of course I know it is. But it’s a two year internship with the potential for job placement afterwards. And who knows how long it would be from then until I could get transferred back to Germany or get a new job over here. I can't ask Bastian to wait for me for that long and I won't ask him to uproot his life and go with me."

"He would, you know," Manuel said. "He would follow you anywhere."

"And I would do the same for him," Lukas answered without hesitating. "But I could never ask that of him. Besides, you and Philipp and Thomas are here and I'm pretty fond of you guys."

Manuel reached out and twined his fingers with Lukas's. "You might never get an opportunity like this again."

Lukas nodded. "I know that. But that doesn't mean I won't get other opportunities. Ones here, closer to home."

"I love you, bro," Manuel said. "I don't think you should have kept this from Bastian, but I think you did it for the right reasons."

"Thanks, man." Lukas gave Manuel a small smile.

Thomas interrupted then, smiling apologetically as he handed Lukas his tea before ducking into Philipp' room to give Philipp and Bastian their tea.

"How is he? Is he okay?" Lukas asked Thomas as soon as he emerged from the room.

"Philipp's taking care of him," Thomas told him. "He's still upset but he'll be okay. Just give him some time."

Lukas nodded and shifted around on the floor as his mobile started vibrating in his pocket. "It's Miroslav. I should take this. Thank you, guys. For everything. For not judging me and telling me I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid," Thomas said.

Lukas smiled and answered his mobile. Manuel can hear Miros' muffled warnings and apologies from where he's still sitting next to Lukas on the floor.

"Yeah, man, I know Bastian knows. Yeah he's fucking home,” Lukas said. “No, I'm not mad. Listen..."

Thomas held out a hand to Manuel. "Your tea is in the kitchen with mine."

Manuel took Thomas's hand, letting Thomas pull him up off the floor. He followed Thomas into the kitchen, hopping up on the counter when they got in the room. Thomas fetched their tea from where he'd left it by the hob and came to stand between Manuel's legs, handing him his mug.

"How much of that did you hear?" Manuel asked as he sipped his tea.  
Thomas took a gulp of his own tea and shrugged, one of his hands coming to rest on Manuel's thigh. "Pretty much all of it. It's not a big flat. I think Bastian heard most of it, too, if that makes a difference."

"I'm not sure if anything will make a difference right now," Manuel answered honestly. "But they'll figure it out. They're Lukas and Bastian. I've never met two people who belong together as much as the two of them."

"I know what you mean," Thomas said. "They just have this... magnetism with each other."

"They'll sort it out," Manuel said and he hated that it almost sounded like a question this time.

Thomas tilted his forehead against Manuel's, his voice sure when he answered, "They'll sort it out."

\----

Thomas, Manuel, and Lukas were on the couch - Lukas curled up with his head in Manuel’s lap - absently watching the television when Philipp came out of his room. Lukas sat up so fast he almost hit Manuel in the jaw with his head.

“How is he? Is he alright?” Lukas asked Philipp, biting his lip nervously.

Philipp didn’t answer, choosing instead to haul Lukas off of the couch and into a hug. “You’re a fucking twat for keeping it from him, but I understand why you did it. That’s probably the only reason I’m not punching you in the face right now.”

“That, and you love me.” Lukas tried to joke but everyone could hear the question he was really asking.

“That too,” Philipp answered without hesitation.

“How is he?” Lukas asked again after another minute of being hugged by Philipp. Philipp released Lukas with a sigh, falling into Manuel’s chair and Lukas sat on the couch again. Manuel rubbed comforting circles into Lukas’s back.

“He’s okay,” Philipp told them. “He’s asleep now. Cried himself out, I think. He thinks you don’t trust him. That you don’t love him enough to trust him with the important stuff.”

“You told him that wasn’t true, right?” Lukas’s eyes were wide with panic and Manuel tugged him closer to himself.

“Of course I did,” Philipp responded, but he lacked the usual scathing tone that he broke out whenever he thought one of them asked something particularly dumb.   
“And deep down he knows that what he’s saying isn’t true, but he’s hurt.”

Lukas curled in on himself, voice thick. “I hurt him.”

“And you’ll fix it.” Philipp didn’t leave for argument, not that he would have gotten any. Lukas was nodding so emphatically that Manuel thought he would give himself a headache.

“I think we should all go to bed,” Thomas suggested. “We can sort all of this tomorrow when everyone’s calmed down and had a good night’s sleep.”

“That,” Philipp pointed a finger at Thomas, “is a fantastic idea, Mr. Müller. Very sound advice.”

Thomas rolled his eyes, but giggled. They all got up, said their goodnights, and retreated to their respective bedrooms.

“Thank you,” Manuel said to Thomas when they were alone. “For tonight.”

“I barely did anything,” Thomas protested, stripping out of his shirt.

Manuel stripped out of his own shirt while also shrugging at Thomas. “You were here. For me, for Lukas. And for Bastian and Phips. That’s what counts.”

“I wish there was more I could do.”

“They’ve got to sort this out themselves.” Manuel sighed. “I wish we could help too, but this is something they have to do.”

“I know.”

They climbed into bed then, Thomas spooning up behind Manuel. Manuel wiggled back, pressing in even closer to Thomas. Manuel was asleep within minutes, exhausted from watching Lukas and Bastian fall apart.

\----

It was only a few hours later when Manuel was shaken awake.  
"This flat better be on fire," Manuel warned, not opening his eyes.

"Manuel, please."

Manuel opened his eyes and looked at Lukas, who was standing beside Manuel's bed. Manuel could just barely make out Lukas's form in the darkness of the room.

"Lukas?" Manuel reached out to tangle his hand in Lukas's shirt and pull him closer. "What's up?"

"Can I sleep in here?" Lukas asked sheepishly. "I can't sleep in my room without Bastian."

"What's going on?" Thomas asked groggily, shifting against Manuel's side.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Lukas apologized. "I forgot Thomas was staying over. It's fine, I can crash on the couch or something."

"No," Manuel protested, not releasing Lukas's shirt. "It's fine, you can fit."

"Come in the middle, we'll both give you a cuddle," Thomas added.

Even in the dark, Manuel could see the look of relief that crossed Lukas's face.

"Thank you," Lukas said as he climbed over Manuel and under the duvet between Manuel and Thomas.

Manuel rolled over so he could face Lukas, cuddling up to him. Manuel reached across Lukas to clasp hands with Thomas, resting their joined hands on Lukas's chest. He kissed Lukas on the cheek. "Of course."

Lukas just nodded and drifted off to sleep, cocooned by Manuel and Thomas. Thomas squeezed Manuel's hand gently before falling back to sleep himself. It took Manuel a while longer, but he finally closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

\----

If the night before had been weird with Lukas and Bastian sleeping in separate beds, it was nothing compared to when they woke up that morning.

Manuel was woken up by Lukas thrashing and whimpering in his sleep, Thomas already up and trying to wake him.

"Lukas? Lukas!" Thomas shook him gently, repeating his name over and over again. Lukas woke with a start, sitting up quickly and almost dislodging Manuel from the bed. Thomas sat up as well, wrapping his arms around Lukas, pulling him against his chest as Lukas breathed through the sobs that wracked his body. 

"Shhhhh, you're alright. It was just a nightmare, I've got you."

"It wasn't just a nightmare." Lukas's laugh was self-deprecating. "I dreamed Bastian was mad at me, that we'd broken up and he wasn't speaking to me. And that's real."

"It's going to be okay, Lukas." Thomas soothed, his eyes sad when they met Manuel's over Lukas's shoulder.

"It's really fucking not," Lukas scoffed.

"Why don't we go get some breakfast?" Manuel suggested, rubbing Lukas's back as reassuringly as he could. "I'll make you some tea, yeah?"

"Tea isn't the answer to everything," Lukas grumbled. "I'm not Philipp."

Manuel and Thomas both barked out laughs, which brought out a small smile from Lukas.

They made their way into the kitchen all together to find Bastian and Philipp already there, Bastian standing at the hob as the kettle whistled.

“Morning,” Bastian greeted them, smiling at Thomas and Manuel and ignoring Lukas completely. Lukas let out a small whimper from where he was pressed up against Thomas’s back, head tucked against Thomas’s shoulder blade. “I made you both some tea.”

With that, he turned and left the kitchen, slamming the door to Philipp’s room behind him. Manuel went over to the stove and picked up the kettle to pour Lukas a cup of tea as well, only to find that the kettle was completely empty. They’d all been making five cups of tea for months now, there was even a mark on the kettle that told them all how much to fill it to make five cups, which meant that Bastian had purposefully only heated up enough tea for four cups.

“It’s okay, you can have my tea,” Manuel said, heart breaking as he watched Lukas reach the same conclusion he just had.

“I’m not really in the mood for tea.” Lukas pulled away from where Thomas was trying to tuck him under his arm.

“Lukas…” Philipp went to stop him.

“It’s fine,” Lukas said, backing out of the kitchen. “I think I’m just gonna go to Miro’s for a while. Get out of the flat.”

“You don’t have to go.” Philipp reached out to run a hand down Lukas’s arm.

Lukas laughed a bit and backed all the way out of the kitchen. “I think I do.”

The kitchen fell silent as they listened to Lukas put on his coat and shoes and close the door of the flat behind him as he left.

“Fuck,” Philipp said vehemently. “Fuck.”

“Yeah,” Manuel added, sipping his tea just to give his hands something to do. “You said it.”

\----

Lukas and Bastian had been broken up for two weeks and a day when Manuel told Thomas he was in love with him.

“You should come by the aquarium today.” Thomas tugged a shirt on, which was one of Manuel’s least favourite sights in the world. Especially because it was Saturday. Saturday was for cuddling and then going out and getting drunk. Or at least that is what it was supposed to be.   
Thomas worked on Saturdays though, so there were always significantly less cuddles than Manuel would have liked.

“Won’t you be busy telling small children all about how sharks can eat them in one bite?”

Thomas just laughed, eyes going crinkly and soft and yeah, significantly less cuddles than Manuel would have liked. “Come by right before closing. We’ll have the place pretty much to ourselves. We can grab some food in the city afterwards. Make a proper date of it.”

“Saturdays are for sleeping, Thomas,” Manuel protested, but he was smiling so he knew Thomas was going to take him about as seriously as he deserved.

“I thought Sundays were for sleeping,” Thomas teased, climbing back onto to the bed to straddle Manuel’s hips. He leaned in and kissed Manuel chastely.

“They are,” Manuel said as he chased after Thomas’s lips for another kiss. “And so are Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays…”

“I get it.” Thomas laughed as he got off of Manuel to finish getting dressed. “You’re a lazy bastard.”

“Don’t be mean, Thomas.” Manuel buried his head under the covers so Thomas wouldn’t see him smiling. It was hard not to smile whenever Thomas did anything. He just made Manuel so fucking happy, it was Philipp’ favourite thing to tease him about.

“I’ll meet you around seven then?” Thomas asked after shuffling about trying to, presumably, get his trousers on.

Manuel poked just his eyes out from under the covers to meet Thomas’s gaze. “I’ll be there.”

“Good,” Thomas said, coming over to kiss Manuel on the forehead in goodbye. “And I’ll make sure to protect you from all the big scary sea monsters we have on exhibit.”

“My hero,” Manuel grumbled as Thomas let out another laugh and left for work, closing Manuel’s door behind him.

Manuel stretched out in his bed and was just contemplating falling back to sleep when his mobile buzzed.

Bastian: I saw Thomas leave. can I come in?  
Manuel: yeah Basti, come on in

Manuel’s door opened less than a minute later, Bastian poking his head in. He had dark circles under his eyes, ones that really only appeared when he was particularly upset or stressed. Manuel knew Bastian hadn’t been sleeping much since he’d called it off with Lukas, even less now that Lukas had started spending most nights at Miroslav’s flat.

“What’s up, man?” Manuel asked, holding up the duvet in invitation. Bastian smiled at that and crawled into bed with Manuel, resting his head on Manuel’s chest and tangling their legs together.

“Just wanted to see how you were doing,” Bastian said. “I’ve missed you.”

“I see you literally everyday, Basti.” Manuel chuckled, hand coming up to tangle in Bastian’s curls and stroke his head, the way Manuel knew he liked.

“I know that.” Bastian bit at Manuel’s collarbone. “But things have just been… weird.”

And Bastian wasn’t wrong. The flat felt weirdly empty without Lukas in it. Bastian was still staying in Philipp’ room so the door to the middle room remained firmly closed at all times, unless Bastian had to get a shirt or something. There was no loud music to block out the sound of Lukas and Bastian having sex, there was no Lukas laughing at something stupid that Philipp had said, there was no Lukas telling Manuel about his day.

The flat felt weirdly empty with just Bastian in it. He was much quieter these days, not going out as much, choosing to hole himself up in Philipp’ room with tea or cheap alcohol. He went to class and went to work, shoulders always tensing when Lukas would enter his line of sight.

Work was absolutely awful. Bastian and Lukas only interacted when necessary and even then it was stilted. Philipp took to hanging in the shelves with Lukas while Manuel entertained Bastian at the front. They’d stopped going out on Wednesday nights because it would have been too awkward, they could all see that. Things were just off and there was nothing Manuel could really do to fix it.

“They have been a bit weird,” Manuel agreed. “But we’ll sort it.”

“Yeah.” Bastian said. There was a long pause and Manuel could tell that Bastian was gathering up his courage to say something. When Bastian finally did speak, he spoke so quietly Manuel almost missed it. “I miss him so much, Manuel.”

“Bastian…”

“And I know that I could fix it,” Bastian went on, hands clenching and unclenching in the t-shirt Manuel had worn to bed. “I know that all I have to do is text him and he’ll come home to me but he really hurt me. He lied to me and I don’t want to be with someone who lies to me.”

“He thought he was doing the easiest thing for both of you,” Manuel said, voice neutral. 

He and Philipp had talked about it the night after Lukas and Bastian had first broken up. They’d agreed to not take sides in this at all. For all the nights that Bastian spent in Philipp’s bed, Philipp got lunch with Lukas or sent Lukas fifty snapchats in a day. For all the times Manuel went out to dinner with Lukas, he made Bastian a cup of tea without being asked or proofread a paper for him.

“Well, he wasn’t.” Bastian hiccupped into Manuel’s chest and Manuel could tell he was trying to keep from crying. “I don’t want him to feel like he has to keep anything from me, Manuel. Especially not something that important.”

Manuel stayed silent, still stroking Bastian’s hair soothingly.

“Can you…” Bastian stopped. “Can you ask him to come home? Please? I just want to see him again. I want him to be living here, with us, not with Miroslav. I want him closer.”

“I think you should text him.” Manuel reasoned with Bastian. “You should be the one to tell him to come home, Bastian.”

“I know I should be, but I need more time. But I don’t like him so far away.”

“Okay,” Manuel murmured. “Okay, I can text him, sure. I’ll bring him home, okay?”

“Okay,” Bastian agreed. “Thank you.”

They laid there in silence for a few more minutes before Bastian started talking again.

“That’s not what I came in here to talk about though,” Bastian said. “That kind of just slipped out. I came in here to give you this.”

He wiggled around for a minute, reaching into the pocket of the jogging bottoms he was wearing and pulled out a small, gold key, which he placed on Manuel’s chest.

“What is it?” Manuel asked.

“Philipp had the spare key copied. We were thinking you might give it to Thomas.” Bastian shrugged. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but he practically lives here already so we figured we might as well. Lukas thought maybe you’d like to be the one to give it to him?”

Manuel swallowed around the lump in his throat as he thought about Bastian, who was broken apart and barely holding it together without Lukas, talking to Philipp about having a key made for Thomas and having Manuel give it to him. He thought about Philipp telling Lukas about the key and Lukas suggesting that Manuel get to give it to Thomas, give the key some weight.  
Sometimes Manuel didn’t want to move out. Sometimes Manuel loved his friends more than he would ever be able to put into words.

Manuel reached up with his free hand and closed his fingers around the key, cool against his palm. “Thanks, Basti. Thank you.”

Bastian just nodded and started to drift off, Manuel’s hand still rubbing at his scalp. Manuel felt himself starting to fall back asleep as well, the key starting to grow warm in his hand.

 

\----  
Manuel texted Lukas while he was on the train to meet Thomas.

Manuel: Basti wants you to come home  
Lukas: he does?  
Manuel: he says he still needs time but that he wants you to come back to the flat  
Manuel: he misses you  
Lukas: I miss him too. fuck I miss him  
Manuel: I know  
Manuel: so will you come home? you can stay in my room with me and Thomas still if you want  
Lukas: I’ll think about it  
Lukas: tell him I’m thinking about it yeah ? and that I love him

Manuel sighed and thumbed out of his conversation with Lukas as the train halted at Manuel’s stop. He walked the few blocks to the aquarium where Thomas worked. He opened the door to let an overactive group of primary schoolchildren out, smiling sympathetically at the two women who were trying to balance gift bags and party favours while trying to wrangle all the children. Thomas was waiting just inside the door for him.

“Hi!” Thomas greeted him, grinning brightly. He reached out and ran the back of his knuckles down the side of Manuel’s face. Manuel leaned into the touch, but would deny it to his deathbed if Philipp ever asked. Thomas leaned in to give Manuel a quick kiss, then shot a look over his shoulder at the girl working the ticketing booth. “You didn’t see me do that. I’m definitely not kissing my boyfriend on the job, right?”

The girl just giggled and made an “x” over her heart, then mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key.

“You’re a star, bless you,” Thomas said to her as he grabbed Manuel’s hand and tugged him past the turnstiles and into the aquarium itself. “Where do you want to go first?”

“I don’t really care?” Manuel shrugged. “The penguins? That’s where you started right?”

“Yeah! Let’s go!” And Manuel had seen Thomas be quite enthusiastic about things over the past few months, but never like this. He’s radiating excitement; practically vibrating with how much he loves this. “I’m so excited to show you everything!”

Thomas dragged Manuel from exhibit to exhibit and his absolute joy with telling Manuel everything about every exhibit was probably the most endearing and wonderful thing that Manuel had ever seen. The last exhibit they went to was the turtles and Manuel’s heart almost melted as he reconciled the idea of a young Thomas falling in love with his pet turtle with the Thomas standing in front of him now, staring up as a turtle swims by with a beatific grin on his face.

They went to dinner at a small pizza place just around the corner from Thomas’s work. The host greeted Thomas by name and asked him if this is “that wonderful boy he’s always going on about” and Thomas went all red and said, “yeah, this is Manuel” and it was so cute that any part of Manuel that wasn’t ready to burst after seeing Thomas in action at the aquarium is ready to burst now. The host led them to a table in the corner, not that privacy is really an issue in this restaurant, there was almost no one there. He placed menus down and left Manuel and Thomas to it.

“I come here quite a bit,” Thomas confessed, still a bit red. “I guess I must have mentioned you in passing.”

Manuel snorted at Thomas as he shrugged out of his jacket and sat down. “Mentioned me in passing, sure, Thommy. Mentioned your wonderful boyfriend.”

“Shut up,” Thomas said, but he was chuckling just a bit. “You already know you’re wonderful.”

“Not as wonderful as you,” Manuel responded. God, Thomas’s turned him into a total sap.

“You had flowers waiting for me at home the other day ‘just because,’” Thomas pointed out.

Manuel scoffed as he hid his blush behind his menu. “You said you were having a bad day at school so I bought you flowers because I thought they would cheer you up.”

Manuel felt his menu being tugged down. He tilted it so he could meet Thomas’s eyes, heart practically melting through his ribs when Thomas smiled at him, soft and fond, and said, “They did cheer me up.”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt,” a voice said and Manuel forced himself to look away from Thomas and up at their waitress. “Are you guys ready to order?”

“I’ll just have my regular,” Thomas said, not even glancing at his menu.

Manuel skimmed over the menu before closing it and saying, “I’ll have whatever he’s having.”

The waitress nodded and collected their menus, walking into the kitchen to put their orders in.

“My regular is a plain cheese pizza with a coke,” Thomas told Manuel, laughing.

“You’re so boring, mate,” Manuel groaned at him. “And now you’re dragging me into your boring little pizza world.”

“Not my fault you ordered the same thing as me without asking, now is it?”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Manuel pouted at Thomas, knowing that it would make him laugh.

Thomas did throw his head back and laugh, which was exactly what Manuel had wanted. He loved making Thomas laugh. Their waitress reappeared to drop off their cokes before retreating again.

“I have something for you,” Manuel said when they’d both all but drained their drinks.

“What? No, Manuel, I don’t have anything for you.” Thomas scrunched up his forehead and Manuel knew that he was trying to figure out if this was some kind of anniversary or special occasion.

“It’s not just from me,” Manuel admitted. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out the key Bastian had given him this morning, placing it on the table in front of Thomas. “The rest of the lads are in on it too. It’s a key to the flat.”

Thomas reached out to pick the key up, turning it over and over in his hand without saying anything. Manuel bit his lip, studying Thomas’s face as they raced through emotions: surprised, confused, touched, happy, back to confused.

Finally, Manuel had to break the silence. “It doesn’t have to mean anything you don’t want it to mean. We just thought it would be easier because you like, live at our flat basically and it’s dumb that you like, have to wait for one of us to be home before you can come over. The flat’s just as much your home as ours now.”

Thomas still didn’t answer, but instead reached across the table to fist his hand in Manuel’s shirt and pull in him for a sloppy kiss.  
Their waitress coughed, interrupting them and Manuel pulled back, flushing furiously. She was smiling when she placed their food on the table and Manuel would swear that she high fived Thomas as she walked away from the table again.

“Have you talked to Lukas lately?” Thomas asked as he bit into his pizza and then hissed because it was steaming hot. He did that every time they ate pizza no matter how many times Manuel tried to get him to just fucking wait until it’s cool, Thommy, Jesus.

“I was texting him on the train over to meet you actually,” Manuel responded, blowing on his own pizza while he waited for it to be cool enough to eat. “Bastian wants him to come home.”

“That’s great!” Thomas exclaimed, taking another bite of his pizza and wincing. Manuel rolled his eyes and handed over what was left of his soda to Thomas, who drank it gratefully, having already finished his own drink. “Does this mean they’re working things out?”

“I’m not sure.” Manuel shrugged. “Bastian wants him around again but he says he still needs time, which I get, but like, I don’t want Lukas to move back home if Basti’s just gonna freeze him out again, you know?”

“That would be pretty awful,” Thomas said thoughtfully, a smudge of pizza sauce on his chin. “I don’t think Bastian would ask for him to come home if he didn’t want to at least try and work things out, though.”

“Me either,” Manuel agreed. "It's just really hard, you know? Falling in love while your best friends pretend they're falling out of it.”

Thomas dropped the slice of pizza he had in his hand, causing Manuel to look up sharply. When he saw the look on Thomas’s face, he played back what he had just said and sucked in a breath. He’d been thinking about it for a while. He was falling in love with Thomas. He was pretty much all the way in love with Thomas, if he was being honest. Head over heels for the stupid bastard, despite the fact that he liked to wake Manuel up early on the weekends to “do things.” And not the fun things Manuel wanted to do on weekend mornings when they had nowhere to be and a room to themselves.

“Are you…” Thomas stopped. He cleared his throat and rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. “Are you falling in love with me?”

“I’m pretty much already there,” Manuel admitted, fighting to keep his voice steady. He wasn’t going to apologize for his feelings, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous as hell to tell Thomas how he felt. “In love with you, I mean.”

Thomas just nodded and waved down their waitress. “Can we get these as take away please?”

She gave Thomas a confused look, but said yes and took their nearly untouched food back into the kitchen to be wrapped up.

“Thomas?” Manuel was starting to feel proper nervous. Like maybe it was too early to be telling Thomas he was in love with him and now Thomas was having the waitress box up their food so that they could leave and Thomas could get far away from Manuel and his feelings. “What are you doing?”

“I’m having her bag up our food for us so I can take you back to our flat and make love to you,” Thomas said simply, as if he were talking about the weather or what he had to do for homework that night. “I’ve been in love with you for weeks, but I didn’t want to be the first to say it in case you didn’t feel the same way.”

“Me too,” Manuel confessed hastily, shrugging his jacket on and digging out his wallet. He threw enough notes to cover their food and give their waitress a generous tip. He probably couldn’t actually afford to give her as big a tip as he was, but he didn’t care. She came back with their food just then and Thomas practically snatched the bags out of her hand before he called out a goodbye, took Manuel by the wrist, and pulled him out to the street.

\----

The train had never taken so long to pull into the station in Manuel’s life. Fuck, Thomas was just running his hand back and forth across Manuel’s lower back as they waited, fingers slipping under Manuel’s jacket and shirt every so often. It was driving Manuel mad. Not that he was any better, gripping Thomas’s hip with a sweaty palm. The train finally pulled into the station. They boarded and Thomas linked their fingers together, thumb rubbing rough circles onto the back of Manuel's hand. They nearly sprinted to the flat, shoulders knocking together and breath going short every time they touched. Manuel thought he was going to die from how much he wanted this, wanted Thomas to take him apart completely.  
No one was in the living room or kitchen, so they dropped their dinner in the fridge and made it to their room without incident or explanation. As soon as Manuel shut the door, though, it was like time went honey thick. Thomas's gaze on him was softer than fire, though there was still plenty of heat there. When Manuel stepped closer to him, Thomas's touches were gentle, hands smoothing over Manuel's cheeks and down his sides as he peeled Manuel out of his jacket. Apparently, Thomas was going to take the 'make love' sentiment to heart, not that Manuel was going to complain. Anything that made Thomas keep looking at him like he wanted to absolutely ruin Manuel was good in Manuel's book.  
Thomas leaned in then, drawing Manuel into a slow kiss that burned from the bottom of Manuel's ribs to the back of his throat. He had never wanted anyone or anything the way that he wanted Thomas in this moment. And he didn't just want to have sex with Thomas, he wanted Thomas in every possible way there was to want somebody, and then maybe a few new ways that Manuel had invented. There was no part of Thomas he did not want and there was no part if himself he did not want to expose and give to Thomas.  
Manuel slid his tongue into Thomas's mouth, tugging at the bottom of Thomas's jumper at the same time. Thomas leaned away from the kiss to pull his jumper and shirt over his head and this was familiar territory; this Manuel could work with. Manuel pulled his own shirt off quickly, ducking his head to mouth at Thomas's collarbones and chest. He sucked one of Thomas's nipples into his mouth, tracing a circle around it with his tongue, which pulled a long groan out of Thomas that Manuel could feel vibrate through Thomas's chest.  
He let his hands drop to rest on the waistband of Thomas's trousers, asking for permission in a way. This time felt different, felt heavier, more important. They were going to be naked with each other in more ways than one and Manuel wanted to give Thomas plenty of opportunities to back out if he wanted to.

Thomas seemed to get it, though that didn't really surprise Manuel. "Yeah, baby, yes," Thomas said before his hands came down to tangle with Manuel's, both of them working to undo Thomas's flies and zip and slide his trousers and pants down. Thomas stepped out of them and nudged Manuel towards the bed. Manuel went willingly, sitting down on the edge and then lying back when Thomas pressed against his shoulders. Thomas's fingers were shaking as they worked at Manuel's belt and Manuel sat back up quickly, capturing Thomas's hands in his own.

"We don't have to..." Manuel trailed off.

"No!" Thomas protested emphatically. "I want to, god, I want to. I'm just... It's stupid to be nervous, right?"

"Not stupid," Manuel assured him, pressing a kiss to the bridge of his nose.

"It just feels different this time. Like this really means something. Which sounds awful, I don't mean that the people I've dated and slept with in the past meant nothing, just that this... You could be it for me, Manuel. I really think you're it for me."

"Fuck, Thomas," Manuel gasped out, tugging Thomas in for a deep kiss. If he'd had any doubt that he was not totally and utterly in love with Thomas, they were gone. Thomas was it for Manuel, too. "I love you. I love you so much."

Things heated up a bit after that, with Thomas tugging Manuel's trousers and pants off, peeling off both of their socks before budging Manuel up on the bed and settling in between Manuel's thighs. He opened Manuel up using warm fingers and generous amounts of lube until Manuel was panting, nearly begging Thomas for more.

"You ready for me, love?" Thomas murmured in Manuel's ear.

"Please, Thomas," was all Manuel could choke out. It was like his heart had run out of space to keep all his love for Thomas and it was flooding over into his lungs, pressing against his rib cage, filling up his veins and every part of him.

"Roll onto your side, angel," Thomas instructed, voice soothing. Manuel did as he was told, Thomas's hands guiding him, strong and sure against Manuel's back and chest. Thomas settled in behind Manuel, spooning up against him, Thomas's cock pushed up against Manuel's lower back. "Like this, yeah? Is this okay?"

"Perfect, Thommy," Manuel told him, lacing his fingers with the ones Thomas had splayed across his stomach. "You're so perfect."

Thomas huffed out a laugh, warm against the back of Manuel's neck. "Sweetheart."

With that, Thomas slid a thigh between Manuel's legs, pressing himself even closer until the head of his cock caught teasingly at Manuel's rim.

"Thomas, please, please," Manuel's voice sounded shattered even to his own ears.

"Alright, baby, shhh, shhh. I've got you." Thomas pressed small, smoothing kisses against Manuel's neck and upper back, bringing Manuel back down a bit. "Let me know when you're ready, okay? Or if you want to stop."

Manuel took a deep breath and tightened his hold on Thomas's hand. "I'm ready."

"I love you," Thomas told him, nipping carefully at Manuel's earlobe, running his tongue over the small hoop there. Thomas pressed in slowly then and Manuel guessed Thomas was using the hand not tangled with his own to guide himself into Manuel. Manuel rocked his hips in slow circles, helping to work Thomas even deeper into himself, until Thomas's hips we're flush with Manuel's arse and they were both breathing heavy. "I need my hand, babe." Thomas tugged his hand out of Manuel's grasp, despite Manuel's protests, and wrapped it around Manuel's cock instead, working Manuel back to full hardness.

Manuel whimpered and pushed back onto Thomas's cock, pushing Thomas in deeper.

"Yeah, beautiful, there you go," Thomas praised breathlessly in Manuel's ear. 

Thomas pushed himself up a bit and nosed at Manuel's cheek until Manuel got the hint and turned his head so they could crash their lips together as their hips ground down.

Manuel curled into himself a bit so Thomas was forced to press even closer, his chest pressed to Manuel's back, their knees bent together. Thomas couldn't really fuck into Manuel at this angle, just small shallow thrusts that pushed Manuel closer and closer to the edge. All Manuel could feel was Thomas, all he could smell was Thomas, all he could taste was Thomas's mouth against his own, all he could think about was Thomas. He had never felt so encompassed by someone before. Manuel reached back to run his fingertips over Thomas's cheek, gentle. Thomas hummed and titled his cheek into Manuel's touch.

It didn't take long for either of them to come, Manuel coming first, wrapped up in this cocoon of warmth and love. Thomas came soon after, hips driving into Manuel’s arse and breath catching sharply over Manuel’s name. They stayed curled up in each other; Manuel was shaking a bit from his orgasm. He’d had some pretty spectacular orgasms in his life - most of them having been provided by Thomas - but this one had been different, better. It felt like all of him had had an orgasm.

“I love you,” Manuel gasped as Thomas pulled out carefully. Manuel rolled over so he could face Thomas and kiss him, pressing his lips over and over again to Thomas’s cheeks and forehead and lips. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Thomas said, capturing Manuel’s lower lip between his teeth and pulling Manuel in for a real, thorough kiss.

“Thommy?” Manuel interrupted their kissing a few minutes later. “I’m kind of hungry.”

“I guess we did cut dinner a little short, yeah,” Thomas said, rolling out of bed. “Why don’t we rinse off in the shower and then eat?”

“Sounds good to me.” Manuel followed Thomas’s lead, rolling to sit on the edge of the bed and then holding his hands out so Thomas could pull him up and into the circle of his arms.

“Are you okay?” Thomas asked, pulling Manuel closer to himself and running his hands up and down Manuel’s back. “I didn’t hurt you, right?”

Manuel nipped at Thomas’s collarbone, sucking some skin into his mouth before releasing it to answer. “No, babe, I’m fine. But next time I intend on having you fuck me until I can’t walk.”

“I can do that.” Thomas huffed out a laugh and released Manuel so they could both pull their pants on and cross the hallway to the bathroom. They laughed and kissed their way through a quick shower, with Thomas sucking a good sized bruise just above the highest neckline of any of Manuel’s shirts that weren’t turtlenecks.

“Fuck you, Thomas,” Manuel hissed when they stepped out of the shower and Manuel saw his skin turning purple in the mirror.

Thomas threw his head back and laughed as he handed Manuel his towel before grabbing his own. “I can’t wait until Philipp sees that. He’s gonna take the piss.”

Manuel just gaped at Thomas in the mirror. Thomas giggled again, kissing the back of Manuel’s neck, before picking up their pants and heading back to Manuel’s room.

“I can’t believe you!” Manuel told Thomas as he followed him across the hall. He caught the clean pants that Thomas threw at him. “Whose boyfriend are you, anyway?”

Thomas shrugged before stepping into a pair of clean pants of his own. “I’m not always sure with the four of you, really.”

“What?” Manuel teased, dropping his towel, but not putting his pants on as he crossed the room to wrap his arms around Thomas’s waist and tilt his head up for a kiss. Thomas obliged, smiling. “Do you make love to the other three boys then?”

“No,” Thomas said, kissing Manuel again. “Just you.”

Manuel grinned and rewarded Thomas with a deep kiss, running his tongue just past the seam of Thomas’s lips the way he knew Thomas liked. Thomas groaned and pulled Manuel closer. Manuel just pushed Thomas away though, smiling at Thomas’s noise of protest. “I really am hungry though, Thommy.”

Thomas rolled his eyes, but stuck out his tongue a bit so Manuel knew he was kidding. “Let’s eat then.”

They both slid into jogging bottoms and Thomas tugged on a shirt despite Manuel’s attempt to wrestle him back out of it. They headed out to the kitchen to find Bastian and Philipp there, cooking, laughing, and making tea.

“Well, well,” Philipp sing-songed when they walked in. “If it isn’t the lovebirds finally out of their nest. And, is that? Jesus, Thomas.”

Thomas just smirked proudly while Philipp examined the mark on Manuel’s neck. Manuel batted Philipp away and glared at Thomas.

“Did Thomas cure you of your fear of all sea creatures, then?” Bastian teased from where he was dishing out a late night stir fry onto plates for himself and Philipp. He hesitated for a second, then reached up into the cabinet by his shoulder and pulled out a third plate. He shuffled around the food so that all three plates had equal amounts.

“Fuck off, Basti,” Manuel whined at him.

“Oh, so you don’t want tea then?” Bastian asked, raising his eyebrows at Manuel even as he pulled mugs out of the cabinet. Manuel just smiled at Bastian, who rolled his eyes and lined the mugs up on the counter. He waited until the kettle whistled before filling the mugs and preparing the tea how they all liked. Philipp squinted at all three of them in betrayal as Bastian added the sugar. “You’re such a tea snob, Phips.”

“For good reason,” Philipp stated haughtily. “Seeing as all you boys do is ruin a good thing.”

Bastian, Thomas, and Manuel rolled their eyes collectively. Bastian handed Thomas and Manuel their tea. Manuel set his on the counter to cool a bit and went to get his and Thomas’s food out of the fridge to heat up while he waited. Bastian handed Philipp his mug and plate, receiving a smile and kick to the balls for his efforts. Bastian picked up the fourth mug and set it beside one of the plates he’d made before picking up the third plate and the final mug and joining Philipp in sitting on the counter on the other side of the kitchen from the hob.

Lukas came into the kitchen then. “Who’s cooking? Smells great!”

“Bastian made stir fry,” Thomas explained, taking a seat at the table and sipping his tea.

“Oh.” Lukas’s face fell a bit and his eyes darted over to Bastian for the briefest of looks before he focused them on the floor.

“Your plate is by the stove.” Bastian nodded, his eyes focused on his plate as he pushed his food around.

Lukas looked up quickly, eyes focusing on Bastian instantly. “Really?”

Bastian cleared his throat and lifted his head to look at Lukas. His eyes were a bit red, the way they always got right before Bastian was about to cry or when he was trying very hard to keep from crying. “Beside your tea.”

Lukas reached out like he was going to touch Bastian, but pulled his hand back immediately, like he’d been burned; like he’d suddenly remembered he’d lost the privilege to touch. “Thank you.”

Bastian just nodded and Philipp’ hand came up to sit at the middle of Bastian’s back. Lukas went over to where his plate was sitting, digging a fork out of the drawer and taking a bite. He didn’t turn around and, from where he was still standing by the fridge, Manuel could see that Lukas was fighting to hold it together. Taking deep breaths as he chewed. Lukas swallowed and straightened just a bit. “It’s delicious, Bastian. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Bastian choked out. He gathered up his plate and tea and got down from the counter carefully. No one else in the kitchen moved a muscle. “I’m going to finish eating in Philipp’s room and then head to bed. Goodnight guys, love you.”

As soon as the door to Philipp’s room closed behind Bastian, the kitchen unfroze. Lukas’s grip on the counter tightened as he hung his head and sobbed, tears falling fast down his cheeks.

“We’ve got him,” Thomas said to Manuel, nodding towards Philipp. He took the food out of Manuel’s hands. “You go get Basti.”

Manuel left the kitchen, knocking softly on Philipp’s door before going in anyways. Bastian was curled up in Philipp’s bed, plate and mug on the bedside table, forgotten. Manuel climbed onto the bed and pulled Bastian into him, Bastian’s face pressed to his chest, Bastian’s tears hot against Manuel’s skin.

“Shhh,” Manuel soothed, fighting to hold it together himself. “It’s alright. You’re going to be alright.”

\----

Three weeks and four days after Lukas and Bastian had broken up, they got back together.

“I’m worried about Bastian,” Philipp announced to Lukas, Manuel, and Thomas that evening. 

They were all sitting around the living room, Thomas and Lukas on their laptops doing schoolwork, Manuel and Philipp camped out in front of the television playing video games. Bastian was still at his last seminar for the day. He was due back any minute.

“Why?” Manuel asked, cursing under his breath as Philipp ran his car off the road.

“He’s sick,” Lukas said. He looked up at Philipp, eyebrows furrowed. “Isn’t he?”

Philipp nodded. “He’s been coughing a lot and tossing and turning in bed. I think he had a fever when he left this morning, too. How did you know?”

Lukas shrugged. “He’s been using his sick voice. And he didn’t sing in the shower this morning. He always sings in the shower unless he’s sick or he’s sucking me off. Did you say something to him about it?”

“Yeah, course,” Philipp answered, looking away from the screen and still somehow blowing Manuel’s car up. Fucking Philipp. “But he just said he doesn’t have time to be sick because he has two papers due and a presentation to prepare and he’ll be sick when all of that is done.”

Lukas huffed. “This is what he does. He gets sick because he runs himself into the ground with his coursework and then he just keeps running himself down.”

“I don’t know what to do, mate,” Philipp admitted. “I’ve tried to reason with him, that he should just take some time off, but he won’t listen.”

“He’s so stubborn,” Lukas muttered under his breath before going back to his paper, determination set in his jaw, though Manuel didn’t know what he was determined about. Deadlines, maybe.  
Thomas slid off the couch to the floor beside Manuel then.

“Are you done with your work, then?” Manuel asked as he slammed into Philipp’s car and threw him off the course. Manuel let out a whoop as he sped into first place. That was more fucking like it.

“Yes,” Thomas let his lips brush up against Manuel’s ear. He nuzzled his nose into Manuel’s throat. “And now I’m bored.”

“Are you?”

“Yes.” Thomas sighed and tipped over backwards. “Entertain me.”

Manuel glanced over at where Thomas was lying, legs spread open and propped up on his elbows. Thomas caught Manuel’s eyes and licked his lips. Manuel was pausing the game and climbing on top of Thomas before Philipp could even start protesting. Before Manuel could do anything more than line his hips up with Thomas’s and press their chests together, the door opened and Bastian came in, coughing into the arm of his jacket.

“Right, then.” Lukas closed his laptop and set it aside, standing up as Bastian shrugged out of his jacket and scarf and toed off his boots. “Philipp, could you make Basti some tea with honey? And Manuel, could you stop whatever it is you and Thomas were about to do and get me the cold medicine from the bathroom? Thommy, could you please grab a cool flannel for me as well?”

“What are you doing?” Bastian asked, voice husky and nearly gone. He tossed his bag into the corner and turned to stare at Lukas.

“You’re sick,” Lukas said as he crossed the room to stand in front of Bastian. “And the only way you’re going to get better is if you rest. So you’re going to rest.”

“You can’t tell me what to do…”

“Well, you weren’t listening to Philipp.” Lukas stood his ground. “If you’re not going to take care of yourself, then I’ll just have to take care of you.”

“That isn’t your job anymore.” Bastian’s voice turned ice cold, but Lukas didn’t seem fazed.

“Yes, it is,” Lukas argued. “Just because I’m not your boyfriend anymore doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you. I’m still your friend and I still love you and I won’t sit here and watch you do this to yourself.”

“I don’t want you to help me,” Bastian shot at him. “I don’t need your help. I can do it myself.”

“But you don’t have to!” Lukas exclaimed. “I’m right fucking here, Basti, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“That’s the problem!” Bastian cried out. “You’re not going anywhere and it’s my fault! I’m keeping you from doing something great. I’m holding you back.”

“Bastian.” Lukas’s voice breaks over Bastian’s name. “That’s not… I didn’t take the internship because I didn’t want to go. I mean, it’d be cool to go to LA and everything, but it’s not where I want to spend two years or more of my life. It’s not something I want for myself when I can find something here. Closer to you and the boys and my family. Yes, you’re part of the reason I’m staying, but you’re the best part of that reason, do you understand me, Bastian? I kept it from you because I knew you would think it was your fault and it’s not.”

“I don’t want you to lie to me,” Bastian said, coughing a bit. “Not even to protect me. I want you to tell me everything and always be honest with me.”

“Do you want me to be honest with you right now?” Lukas asked.

“What did I just say?” Bastian sounded a bit exasperated, but there was also a small smile tugging at his lips. Manuel felt a knot in his stomach come loose. Bastian was smiling at Lukas, fuck it felt like Manuel could breathe again.

“Well, if I’m being honest,” Lukas said. “It looks like you’re about to pass out. So please, please, Basti, let me take care of you.”

Bastian hesitated, studying Lukas like he was memorizing the way he looked in this moment. Bastian bit his lip and nodded.

Lukas’s shoulders sagged and Manuel thought he and Thomas would end up carrying both Bastian and Lukas to their room. But Lukas reached out and pulled Bastian into a tight hug. “I missed you so much,” he said into Bastian’s shoulder.

“Me too, Lukas,” Bastian murmured back. “Me too.”

“Don’t you ever break up with me again.” Lukas threatened, but he was shaking.  
Bastian wrapped his arms tighter around Lukas and promised, “I won’t.”

They let go after a few long moments and Lukas wrapped an arm around Bastian’s waist instead, guiding them into their bedroom. A minute later, Lukas poked his head out and raised his eyebrows at Thomas, Philipp, and Manuel.   
“Didn’t I ask you guys to do something?”

The three of them scrambled up to grab what Lukas had asked for, bringing it into their bedroom, to find Bastian curled up under the covers, head resting against Lukas’s chest as he shivered. Lukas murmured soothing words to him, running his hand through Bastian’s curls and, despite the fever and chills and everything else, Bastian looked better than he had in weeks. Lukas too. Manuel wanted to cheer, but also hug them both and make them promise to never do that to him or each other again. He knew Bastian had already promised Lukas but he wanted both of them to promise it to him, too.  
Manuel left the room last, closing the door on the quiet rumblings of Lukas talking Bastian to sleep. He turned around to find Thomas hugging Philipp, Philipp fighting off tears.

“Phips.” Manuel reached out to him when he stepped out of Thomas’s arms.

“I’m fine,” Philipp said, but took Manuel’s hand anyways. “It’s just… I’m glad they’re not being idiots anymore.”

Manuel let out a watery laugh. “Me too.”

\----

Three days after Bastian and Lukas got back together, they all sit around the table having dinner together. Lukas was in Bastian’s lap, laughing at some story about Philipp’s day that Philipp is re-enacting for him. Bastian was talking to Thomas about some coffee shop he knows of that does an open mic twice a month that he thinks they should all go to. Manuel was holding Thomas’s hand under the table and looking around at his friends when he thought: home.

“Pass the fucking garlic bread, you asshole.” Philipp’s voice cut into Manuel’s thoughts, though the thought lingers, echoing in his head and heart.

“Be nice,” Bastian whined at Philipp, even as he passed him the bread.

Philipp raised an eyebrow. “You lived in my room for like, a month and I was nothing but nice to you. I need to make up for lost time.”

“Or,” Thomas interjected, raising his eyebrows, “you could just be nice.”

Philipp put a hand over his heart and gave Thomas a wounded look. “How very dare you. It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

“You know,” Manuel interrupted before Thomas could retort, “we really should get a fifth chair.”

They all looked around the table, as if noticing for the first time that they really were one chair short.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Lukas said finally. He grinned down at Bastian. “I quite like my chair.”

“And your chair likes you back,” Bastian answered, tilting up his face for a kiss, which Lukas happily gave him.

“Gross.” Philipp threw a piece of garlic bread at them. “Stop that, some of us are trying to eat.”

Lukas and Bastian pulled apart with a laugh and resumed eating their pizza. Thomas had picked it up on his way home from work from the place where Manuel had told Thomas he loved him. Their waitress from that night had sent along a note on the receipt that warned Manuel to be nice to her favourite customer and treat him right, or she’d tell every pizza place in the city to turn him away. Manuel wasn’t sure how empty her threat was. 

(He was pretty sure it was mostly empty, but he didn’t particularly want to find out.)

Thomas tried to pull his hand away, then, presumably to eat his own slice of pizza, but Manuel held on tightly, not letting go. Thomas looked at him, a bit confused, but his face relaxed into a smile when he saw the warm grin on Manuel’s face. He left his hand where it was.

Manuel looked around at where Lukas was now talking to Thomas about guitars and Philipp was carding a hand through Bastian’s curls, even as Bastian complained about grease on Philipp’ hand from the pizza and pulled away, and the echo grew louder again until the word was repeating with every thump of Manuel’s heart.

Home.

\----

The bell over the door tinkled and Basti’s whole face lit up. Manuel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Sometimes he thought Bastian was more excited to see Thomas than he was.

“Thomas!” Bastian yelled. “Come and see my new tattoo! I skipped class today to get it.”

“Stop skipping class,” Manuel told him. “You’re gonna fail, Basti, and I’m gonna have to be the one to tell your mum and then she’ll hate me.”

“My mum could never hate you and you know it,” Bastian replied primly.

Thomas came over then, and hopped up onto Manuel’s counter. “Hi, Manuel. You alright?”

“Fine, Thommy. You?”

In lieu of answering, Thomas leaned in and kissed Manuel. Manuel could taste his smile on his tongue though, so he knew that Thomas’s day had gone well. They only pulled apart when Lukas appeared from the shelves to throw himself at Thomas in greeting.

“Heyyyy,” Bastian whined from his register. “Come over here.”

Lukas climbed off of Thomas and made his way over to Bastian, pressing small kisses against Bastian’s lips before hopping up on his counter to sit beside Philipp.

Thomas reached behind himself on Manuel’s counter to grab a package of peanut butter cups off the shelf. He handed them to Manuel with a beaming grin on his face, like he didn’t do this every single day now. Manuel rolled his eyes, but returned Thomas’s smile as he rang up the peanut butter cups, putting the money for them into the till out of his own wallet.

“I hate when you do that,” Thomas said as he took the peanut butter cups back and ripped them open.

“I like spoiling my boyfriend,” Manuel answered, taking the peanut butter cup that Thomas offered him.

“Hey, Manuel!” Bastian called out and Manuel could tell by his tone that whatever Bastian said next was not going to be funny. “If you keep buying Thomas candy, you’re going to become his sugar daddy.”

Philipp reached over and punched Bastian in the arm while the rest of them groaned and complained. Bastian didn’t seem at all bothered by it, grinning at them like he thought they all thought it was secretly funny or something.

“To dumb friends,” Manuel raised his peanut butter cup to Thomas.

“And to the idiots that live with them,” Thomas added, bring his own peanut butter cup up to knock against Manuel’s.

They smiled at each other and ate their peanut butter cups (Thomas biting his in half), before turning back to listen as Lukas told them about his day and his professor from hell. 

Without taking their eyes off of Lukas, Manuel and Thomas’s hands found each other.

Fingers intertwining.  
Just like their lives would always be.  
Perfectly entwined, no matter what.


End file.
